PUBLIC LIBRARY 




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UNCLE AUSTIN AND HIS NEPHEWS 

OR, 

THE SCRIPTURE GUIDE. 

BEING A 

FAMILIAR INTRODUCTION 

TO THE 

STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 



By REV. JAMES W. ALEXANDER, D.D. 



AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION: 

1122 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA. 
3T5 BiiOADWAY, Mlfa YORK. 



I 



t- 









Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by Paul 
Beck, Jr., Treasurer, in trust for the American Sunday-school Union, 
m the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of 
Pennsylvania. 



JUN1I 1919 

PUBIJC LTBRABT 



The great end of all religious teaching 
would be attained, if men could be brought 
to read the Bible aright. No books, there- 
fore, are unimportant, which point to the 
Holy Scriptures. Such is the present attempt, 
which is expressly dedicated to the young. 
It is intended for excitement as well as in- 
struction ; not only to communicate informa- 
tion and explain difficulties, but to offer in- 
ducements for the study of the Bible. 

When a copy of our English Bible is placed 
in the hand of an inquiring, but unmstructed 
young person, there naturally arise a number 
of interesting questions. Is this the work of 
one, or of many hands ? Is it an original 
work, or a version ? At what times and in 
what tongue was it written ? Into what lan- 
guages has it been translated ? What is the 
history of our common version ? How am I 
to interpret the division into books, chapters, 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

and verses ; the numerous marginal notes 
and the peculiarities of typography ? How 
may it be studied to the best advantage ? — 
These are inquiries which even children of 
inquisitive minds are prompt to make ; and 
which even intelligent teachers are sometimes 
at a loss to satisfy. It is such questions that 
the following work professes to answer. 

There are numerous works on these sub- 
jects addressed to the learned ; but they are 
beyond the reach of common readers. There 
are also many treatises which direct to the 
proper study of the sacred text. But it is 
believed, that there is not in our language 
any book which presents at one view exactly 
the field which is here exhibited. In justifi- 
cation of this remark, the reader is requested 
to examine the contents of the chapters from 
the sixth to the eleventh, inclusively. 

The form of the work may seem to demand 
some explanation. It is by no means a fic- 
titious composition, or a mere book of amuse- 
ment. Yet, as some of the matters treated, 
however important, are in themselves some- 
vvhat dry, the author has spared no pains to 
render it attractive and even entertaining 



PREFACE. O 

The dialogue offered an occasion for constant 
change of subject, and for the suggestion of 
many questions, which, in any other method 
of composition, would have been an inter- 
ruption to the discourse. 

The subject is by no means exhausted 
Among the important topics which could not 
be fully treated within our narrow limits, are 
such as the following : An analysis of each 
book of Scripture ; a key to Scripture diffi- 
culties, and especially to the prophetical writ- 
ings ; a catalogue of such books as are useful 
aids to the Bible student ; and a history of 
the distribution of the Scriptures by Bible 
Societies. These may be treated in a subse 
quent volume. 

It is the earnest desire and prayer of the 
author, that these pages may be made the 
means of promoting the interests of true re- 
ligion, by inducing some, at least, to read the 
best of books with increased profit and de- 
ngnt, 

I* 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introduction — Account of uncle Austin — The holidays — 
Visit to Oaklale — Meeting with uncle Austin — Conver- 
sation with him — Walk over the grounds. . . .11 

CHAPTER II. 

Uncle Austin's study — Hebrew map — The Bible the most 
entertaining book in the world — Histories in the Bible — 
Bible histories are all true — Greatly neglected — It is 
God's book — Inspiration explained — The Bible tells us 
of Christ— The Gospels. 22 

CHAPTER III. 
■Egypt — The Bible gives us the earliest account of Egypt — 
The oldest book in the world — Our only history of early 
times — The book of greatest wisdom — Folly of heathens 
and infidels — The Bible teaches us our duty — Reveals to 
us futurity — The Bible shows the way to be saved. . 33 

CHAPTER IV. 

Divisions of the Bible — Into Testaments — Meaning of the 
word Bible — Meaning of the word Testament — Names 
by which the Bible is known — Apocrypha — Original lan- 
guages of Scripture — The Hebrew — The Greek — The 
Bible written at various times — Made up of many books — 
Number of these — Divisions of the Old Testament — His- 
torical, doctrinal, poetical, and prophetical books — Form 
of ancient books — Hebrew writing — Service of the syna- 
gogues 46 

CHAPTER V. 

The New Testament — Why written in Greek — Period be- 
tween the two Testaments — Divisions of the New Tes- 

7 



8 CONTENTS. 

Pap 

tament — Historical, doctrinal, and prophetical books — 
Writers of the different books — Table of the writers and 
dates — Advantage of reading the Bible in the original — 
How the Moslems read the Koran — The word Gospel — 

The catholic epistles CS 

CHAPTER VI. 
A ncient writing and books — Meaning of the worn Volume — 
Invention of writing — Scrolls — Materials on which books 
were written. I. Vegetable substances — Leaves of 
trees — Bark — Wood — Roman tablets — Egyptian papy- 
rus. II. Animal substances ■ — ■ Skins — Parchment — Vel- 
lum — Bones — Shells. III. Mineral substances — Lead- 
Copper — Brass — Silver — Gold — Stone — Bricks. . . 69 

CHAPTER VII. 
Ancient writing and books, continued — Ancient Pens — 
Reeds — Introduction of quill-pens — Roman inkstands — 
Ancient ink — Hair-pencils — Iron pens — The stylus- 
Waxen tablets — Manner of binding ancient books — Syna- 
gogue rolls — Rollers — Sealed books — Cases for books — 
Scribes, or amanuenses. 8> 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Ancient Bibles — Of the copying of books — Ornamental 
writing and illumination — Church bibles — Cost of an- 
cient books — Ornamented covers — Value of books in 
the middle ages — Translations of the Bible — The Sep- 
tuagint — The Vulgate — 'Other versions — Anglo-Saxon — 
English — Wiclif's New Testament — TindaPs Bible — 
Love of English Christians for the Scriptures — The 
Bishops' Bible — Collections o* translations. . , .94 

CHAPTER IX. 

The authorized English version — Extent of its influence 
History — King James the First — Authors of this trans- 
lation — Occasion of their undertaking the work — Account 



CONTENTS. 9 

fag« 

of its progress — Manner of dividing the labour — Their 
great care in comparing and correcting — The learning of 
these translators — Revision of the whole — Printing of 
the English Bible — Translators' names. . . . 108 

CHAPTER X. 

Names of Scripture books—Double names — Apocalypse 
Books of Samuel and Kings — The Preacher — Canticles — 
Divisions of the Bible continued — Lesser divisions — 
Chapters, paragraphs, and verses — History of the divi- 
sion into chapters — Jewish divisions — Concordances — 
Sancto Caro — History of the division into verses- 
Henry Stephens — Advantages and disadvantages of these 
divisions. 122 

CHAPTER XI. 

Acrostics in the Bible — Running titles — Titles of the chap- 
ters — The margin — Marginal notes — Divisions of these — 
Marginal explanations — Marginal readings — Marginal 
references — Two kinds of marginal readings — Use of 

these 137 

CHAPTER XII. 

Marginal explanations continued — Dates — Abbreviations 
explained — Explanations of proper names — Brief com- 
ments — Marginal references — Mode of using these — Use 
of parallel places exemplified — Recommended by Bishop 
Horsley — Good editions named — Use of Italics in the 
English Bible — Use of capitals — The word Lord — Use 
of brackets 149 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The dedication to King James — Tables at the end of the Eng- 
lish Bible — Proper names which are written differently 
in different places — List of these — Hard words in the book 
of Psalms — Selah, Higgaion, etc. — Untranslated words — 
Hosanna, Tirshatha, etc. — Obsolete words — List of these. 163 



10 CONTENTS. 



:hapter xiv. 



Page 



Certain preliminary knowledge which is necessary in order 
to understand the Scriptures — Supposed case of a Chinese 
Life of Washington — Ancient geography — Chronology — 
Manners and customs of the East. .... 174 

CHAPTER XV. 

Illustrations from Biblical Antiquities — Difference between 
eastern and western manners — Oriental houses — Posture 
at meals — Manner of sitting — Eastern dress — Girdles — 
Eastern bottles — Tear-bottles — Funerals — Phylacteries. 186 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Rules for the reading of Scripture — The Bible must be read 
as the word of God — With prayer for divine light — Dili- 
gently — Patiently — Attentively — With faith — With obe- 
dience — W T ith self-application — With fervour — At hours 
of devotion — With Christ always in view — More than 

other books. 204 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Rules for the reading of Scripture, continued — The Bible 
should be read daily — In regular course — Neglecting nc 
part — In suitable portions — Without prejudice — Compar 
ing scripture with scripture — W T ith judicious use of com- 
mentaries, and abundant perusal of the text itself — Th<» 
Bible our study for life. ...... 226 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Rules for the reading of Scripture, concluded — The Bible 
must be read with ardent love — Charging memory with 
its instructions — The importance of self-examination, 
meditation, and conveisation on what has been read — 
Passages read should be turned into prayer— This reading 
is for the salvation of the soul — Recapitulation of rules — 
Conclusion. ... 244 



AN 

INTRODUCTION 

TO 

THE SCRIPTURES 



CHAPTER I. 

!&*iodnction — Account of uncle Austin — The hoLdays — Visit 
to O^kdale — Meeting with uncle Austin — 'Conversation with 
him — Walk over the grounds* 

Ernest and Hilary were the sons of Mr. Miller 
^f New York. They were sensible boys, and had 
been taught in the best schools of the city Ernest 
was the elder ; but his brother had so much spright- 
liness, that they were almost always learning the 
same things ; and they looked very much alike, so 
that people sometimes took them for twins. 

When the winter came on, and they had been 
going very steadily to school, they began to think 
of getting free from their books. They were sitting 
by a bright coal-fire in the little back-room, one 
evening in December, when Hilary shut up his 
grammar, and said, " Ernest, it is time to think 

11 



12 AN INTRODUCTION 

about Christmas ; where are we going to spend the 
holidays ?" 

" I heard father say," said Ernest, " that we are 
to go and see uncle Austin, in New Jersey ; and I 
am very glad of it, for I like uncle Austin. You 
were never at his house — were you, Hilary ?" 

" No, brother ; you remember I had broken my 
collar-bone, and could not go out, when you went 
to Jersey. Tell me something about him. What 
is he like ?" 

" Like !" said Ernest ; " why, he is like one of 
the best men in the world. He is like one of the 
good old folks we read about in the Bible. He 
has gray hair hanging down over his neck, and 
when he goes out he walks with a cane. But he 
is so kind and so gentle ! I never heard a cross 
word out of his mouth. When Tom and I broke 
his great inkstand, and blacked all his papers, he 
only said, ' O, children, children ; I shall have to 
teach you the way to be careful !' " 

" O, then, I am sure," said Hilary, " he will 
give us a Christmas present !" 

" Do not be thinking about Christmas presents, 
Hilary. Uncle Austin will do better than that. 
He will give us such good talk, and tell us so many 
pretty histories, and show us so many curiosities, 
and draw us so many pictures, that you will forget 
all about Christmas boxes, and the like." 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 1 3 

Hilary looked sober for a while, and then said 
'* Brother Ernest, is this the same uncle that the 
boys used to call the Bible man?" 

" Yes," said Ernest, " this is he. Whenever 
he went out walking, he used to carry Bibles and 
New Testaments in his great old-fashioned pockets, 
to give away to the poor people. This made them 
call him the Bible man. But besides this, you 
know he used to be a great traveller ; and when he 
came from sea, some years ago, he brought with 
him several boxes of books. When the boxes were 
opened, they were full of Bibles !" 

Hilary. Why what could he do with so many ? 

Ernest. I will tell you. There is a society in 
England called the British and Foreign Bible So- 
ciety. They get Bibles in all languages, and send 
them all over the world. When uncle Austin was 
?n London, he says that he was so delighted to see 
the great piles of Bibles for the heathen people, 
that the tears ran down his face. He bought one 
Bible in each of the languages, and brought them 
over to America with him. They fill several shelves 
in his library. 

Hilary. Can he read in them all ? 

Ernest. O, no ! He can read in a number of 
them, because he has lived in a great many differ- 
ent countries. But then, he says it is a memorial 
of the Bible Society. Whenever he looks at his 
2 



14 AN INTRODUCTION 

shelves of Bibles, he thinks of the good men who 
are trying to send the Bible all over the earth. He 
has given away a number of them to poor French- 
men, and Spaniards, and others. And when there 
was a Greek in his neighbourhood, he sent him a 
present of a New Testament in modern Greek. 
Hilary. Uncle Austin must be a great scholar. 
Ernest. He is a great Bible scholar. He reads 
in the Bible more than in all his other books. And 
this is another reason why the neighbours call him 
the Bible man. Whenever they come in, they 
find him at his Bible. 

Hilary. I wonder he does not get tired of read- 
ing so much in one book. I get tired of reading a 
single hour in the Bible. 

Ernest. And you ought to be ashamed of it. 
But only go to uncle Austin's, and he will explain 
it all to you. I cannot say the things as he says 
them ; but I can tell you this, that ever since I was 
at Oakdale, where he lives, I have had very differ- 
ent thoughts about the Bible. 

Hilary. Well, it may be so : but I hope he has 
somebody to cook the Christmas dinner, and make 
the pies and cakes, while he is at his books. 

Ernest. There you are at your jokes again ' 
Why, Hilary, you would make one think that you 
care for nothing but eating. Uncle Austin is a 
widower. His wife has been dead more than 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 15 

twenty years. But he has a good kind niece, who 
is our cousin, who takes good care of the house- 
keeping. And the old gardener, John, will be sure 
to be attentive to the "little masters," as he calls 
the boys. 

The boys then turned to their books, and studied 
as usual until the family were called to family wor- 
ship. When they retired to bed, Hilary thought a 
great deal about the approaching holidays. In the 
morning, he awaked his brother, and said, " Ernest, 
are you sure that this good old uncle of our's will 
be glad to see us ?" 

"Yes," said Ernest, "his face will be bright 
with joy." 

" But," said Hilary, "if he studies the Bible so 
much, and is so very religious, I should think he 
would be very solemn and dry." 

" That," replied Ernest, " is one of your igno- 
rant notions. When you see uncle Austin, you 
will see that religion does not make people gloomy. 
He is a happy old gentleman, and he loves the little 
children so much, that he often carries bundles of 
little books to give away at the doors of the country 
schools. But I will tell you one thing ; you had 
better be brushing up your knowledge of the Bible 
before you go, for uncle sometimes asks some hard 
questiors." 

The nolidays came at last. The boys were up 



16 AN INTRODUCTION 

before daylight, in order to get ready. Their trunks 
were packed, and their great-coats spread out. The 
young travellers could scarcely be content to wait 
for the carriage. At length it came to the door : 
there was much shaking of hands, and abundance 
of messages and good wishes, and then the carriage 
drove off. The ground was covered with a light 
snow, and the sleet of the preceding night had set- 
tled in a glassy coat upon the trees and shrubs. 
When the sun shone out, the whole country glis- 
tened, as if every icicle had been a crystal or a pre- 
cious stone. 

The journey need not be described. It was 
like most journeys in which boys are concerned 
Ernest was stretching his neck one way, and Hilary 
was stretching his neck another way, both eager to 
see every thing, and both delighted at every thing 
they saw. Hilary talked most and laughed most ; 
but Ernest looked wise, as if he were ashamed to 
admire any thing too much. They were glad when 
they found they were drawing near to Oakdale. 

" There ! there it is!" cried Ernest. "Look 
out, Hilary ! Look out ! There is uncle's barn ; 
there is the little brook, and the bridge over it; 
there is the row of oaks ; and now I see the house ; 
and the green cedars before the door ! 4.nd, O ! 
there is good uncle Austin himself, with his blue 
cloak on, waiting for us, and his staff in his hand." 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 17 

The carriage stopped. The step was let down. 
The door was opened ; Ernest stepped out. The 
good old man cried, " Welcome, welcome, nephew !" 
and, taking Ernest in his arms, he kissed his fore- 
head. " And this is my nephew Hilary ? I must 
take you in my old arms too. But come in, Hila- 
ry — come in, Ernest — the day is cold — the parlour 
is all warm for you, and every one glad to see you, 
even down to Hylax the dog." 

Old John, the gardener, took in the luggage ; 
and uncle Austin led the way into the house. Miss 
Priscilla More, his niece, was standing there to 
receive her cousins. They found a bright country 
fire, roaring in a large old-fashioned hearth. A 
high arm-chair was before it. In this the old gen- 
tleman seated himself, and then pointed to a low 
chair on his right, and another on his left : " There 
are your seats, my lads," said he, cheerfully; 
" Ernest, sit on my right; Hilary, sit on my left: 
now be as happy as you can." 

By the time the boys had got well warmed, and 
somewhat rested, they were called into the next 
room to dinner. The young travellers sat down 
with good appetites, and I must confess that Hilary 
thought more highly of Oakdale than he had ever 
done, when he saw the bountiful provision which 
had been made by his cousin Priscilla. During 
the meal, uncle Austin looked very attentively ai 
2* 



18 AN INTRODUCTION 

his nephews, and smiled with pleasure when he 
saw how well they behaved themselves. After 
dinner, they returned to the warm parlour, and 
drew their chairs again around the fire. Uncle 
Austin leaned back in his chair, and began as fol- 
lows : 

" I have been thinking how rapidly time flies. 
It seems but a little while since I used to go to my 
grandfather's, to spend my winter holidays. And 
now I am old enough to be your grandfather." 

Hilary said, " Uncle Austin, how old would 
your grandfather be, if he were living now ?" 

" O, my child, he would be the oldest man on 
earth ; for he was very old then, and it was sixty 
years ago ; he would be a hundred and fifty year? 
old." 

" That is not as old by twenty-five years as 
Abraham was," said Ernest. 

"lam glad you know so much about Abraham, 
nephew. Men lived to be older in those days. 
Pray, master Hilary, how old was Enoch when he 
died?" 

Hilary smiled, and said, " Just as old, sir, as 
Elijah was." 

" Well done !" said uncle Austin. " I thought 
1 had caught you : but you have looked a little into 
the best of books. It is well that you do. As for 
me, I began too late. When I was of your age 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 19 

there was no such thing as a Sunday-school, and 
very few books to explain the Bible. When we 
wanted to read, we used to get little gilt books from 
Mr. Newberry, of St. Paul's Churchyard, London. 
We had Jack the Giant-killer, Guy of Warwick, 
and the Seven Sleepers. But I cared little for 
reading of any kind. My delight was to ride, and 
shout, and frolic. And when I began to read the 
Bible some years after, it was quite a strange book 
to me." 

Ernest. Uncle, how old were you when you 
went to France ? 

Uncle. I have been several times to France, my 
boy. The first time I was twenty-three years old, 
and then I travelled all over Europe ; but the time 
I stayed longest in France was when I was about 
forty years of age. And now I am content to re- 
main here, and lay my bones in America. 

Hilary. But, uncle, we never see you in the 
city. You must get very tired of staying always 
here in this lonely place. 

Uncle. Not at all, Hilary. There you make a 
boyish mistake. I dare say you think that nobody 
can be happy unless he lives in New York, and 
walks in Broadway, and sees abundance of fine 
stores, and fine people, and fine ships. You fancy 
that I am lonesome. Now let me tell you, I am 
happier here in my quiet Oakdale, than many a 



20 AN INTRODUCTION 

man who lives in a marble house, among thousands 
of gay citizens. 

Hilary But what can you do with yourself? 
Whom have you got to talk with ? 

Here uncle Austin looked very archly at the 
little boy, and sai^, as he rose from his chair, 
''Do you see that mahogany door? I have a 
number of friends within, with whom I talk every 
day/' 

Hilary. Ah, uncle ! you think to catch me again 
You mean your books. Now, do you not, uncle ? 

Uncle. I do, indeed. Is it not a strange thing 
that I cannot entrap such a little fellow as you are ? 
I suppose I shall have to show you my library. 
But we will first take a walk, and while we walk 
I will tell you something about my place. 

Hilary ran to get his uncle's cane, Ernest brought 
his coat, and Miss Priscilla tied a handkerchief 
around his neck. Then taking his hat, the good 
old man gave an arm to each of the boys, and led 
them out to survey the farm and grounds. 

" Yonder," said he, " is the place where your 
dear mother was born. The old house used to 
stand between those large oaks. It was burned 
down twenty years ago. And there is a ruinous 
house, which, in old times, was a distillery ; but 
we have learned to do without distilleries, and 
the house is now used for a tool-house by the 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 21 

gardener. There is a hedge which I have amused 
myself in making. There is a row of pear trees 
which I planted when I was a boy. There is 
a broken tree which I saw struck with light- 
ning many years ago. And on the other side of 
the bridge is a little row of houses, which I have 
built for some of my poor neighbours. In the op- 
posite direction, you may see the steeple of the 
church rising among the trees. Thus you see, 
my dear children, that whenever I come out of my 
doors, I see something or other to remind me of 
past days." 

The boys now began to roam over the farm, and 
the old gentleman, finding it cold, returned to the 
house. Here he had a fire made in his library 
and prepared several things for the amusement of 
his nept^ws, whom he loved very much. 



22 AN INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER II 

Uncle Austin's study — Hebrew map — The Bible the most en 
tertaining book in the world — Histories in the Bible — Biblr 
histories are all true — Greatly neglected — It is God's book 
Inspiration explained — The Bible tells us of Christ — The 
Gospels. 

When it began to grow dark, Ernest and Hilary 
returned to the house, and were immediately con* 
ducted to their uncle's study. Hilary had now an 
opportunity to see for himself what his brother 
had told him. The study, as it was always called, 
was a large room in the pleasantest part of the 
house. A row of windows on the eastern side 
made it very light and cheerful, and the opposite 
wall was entirely covered with handsome shelves, 
full of books. Between the windows were several 
paintings and maps, and over the chimney-piece 
was a plan of the city of Jerusalem. Hilary had 
never seen such a place before. He was used to 
his father's store and counting-room, and you could 
hardly have shown him any thing new in the way 
of merchandise ; but he was not so much acquainted 
with books. After he had gazed about him for a 
time, his uncle said to him, " Come here, nephew, 
aud sit near the lamp, for I have something to show 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 23 

you. What is this, Hilary, which I hold in my 
oand V* 

Hilary. It looks like a pocket handkerchief, sir, 

Ernest. It looks more like a map. 

Hilary. But who ever saw a map on a piece of 
red cotton cloth ? 

Ernest. Who ever saw a handkerchief with 
mountains, and lakes, and rivers on it ? Yes, and 
heie I see the latitude and longitude. 

Uncle. You are both right. It is a handkerchief 
with a map painted on it. The map represents the 
Holy Land. The names are in Hebrew. It is so 
printed (or rather lithographed) for the convenience 
of Jews travelling to Palestine. The map is a very 
correct one ; I obtained it from Trieste, where it 
was made.* 

Ernest. Would not that map help one to under- 
stand the Bible ? 

Uncle. It would help one who could read 
Hebrew : but we have better maps of Pales- 
tine. There, over the sofa, hangs an excellent 
map published by the American Sunday-school 
Union. 

Hilary. Why do you think so much of the Bi- 
ble, uncle ? Almost all your books and pictures 
have something to do with the Bible. 

Uncle. A very proper question. I have found 
* Such a map is in the author's possession. 



24 AN INTRODUCTION 

out that I have more entertainment from this book 
than from any thing else. 

Ernest. Entertainment ! Why, uncle, I neve* 
thought of getting entertainment from the Bible. I 
thought it was the most serious book in the world. 

Uncle. So it is Hut also entertaining. There is 
such a thing as serious entertainment. It is the best 
sort. One does not become weary of it so soon. I 
love to read about the people of ancient times — their 
greatness, their adventures, and their wonderful 
deeds. I have other reasons for liking this holy 
book, which I mean to give you at another time. 
But, as yoa are boys, and not old men, I mentioned 
the entertainment it affords. 

Ernest. But, uncle Austin, I do not understand 
you. When I want to be entertained, I like to 
read in histories about battles, and generals, and 
such things. I like to read about the adven- 
tures of Captain Cook, and Baron Trenck ; or. 
about Alexander the Great, and Hannibal, and 
Peter of Russia. And I read in the Bible to learn 
what is good. 

Uncle. True, the Bible teaches us concerning 
God, and our duty ; but God has been so conde- 
scending as to make it at the same time the most 
interesting book in the world. If you like to read 
of adventures, this book is full of them ; and what 
is more, they are all true. There is not a word 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 8$ 

from beginning to end which is not true. Ernest 
likes to read of great captains and wars. I am 
afraid he has something of the soldier in him 
Now the Bible has the most remarkable accounts 
of this kind. There never was a greater com- 
mander than Moses. 

Ernest. Moses ! Uncle, are you in earnest ? 

Uncle. To be sure I am in earnest. Moses was 
b great general. Just think of what he did. He 
led out more than a million of people through a sea, 
and through a desert, and through the land of ene- 
mies, to the border of Canaan. And he was forty 
years their leader. What other general ever did 
this ? And he wrote the account of it himself, and 
here we have it all in the Bible. 

Ernest. Csesar also wrote about his own wars. 

Uncle. Yes ; I am glad you take notice of this. 
Listen again. Joshua was a great captain. Jephthah 
was a remarkable commander. Samson was a 
hero, greater than Hercules. His history is won- 
derful. If we had never heard of it before, and 
. i vome one should tell us about him, we should think 
it more interesting than any of our story-books. 
David was a noble general ; he was brave and 
generous ; and his life is as pleasant to read as a 
novel. And then Ezra and Nehemiah were two 
fearless, independent men, who loved their country, 
and delivered their city from being a ruin. 
3 



26 AN INTRODUCTION 

Hilary. I never thought of this before. But 
uncle, I am not like Ernest ; I do not care half so 
much about fighting, and armies, as he does. When 
I read in Caesar about his wars, I am wearied out 
I am fond of adventures. I like the Arabian Nights, 
and Gulliver's Travels, and Robinson Crusoe ; but 
mother takes them away from me, because they 
are untrue. 

Uncle. Very right. Some children would read 
nothing else, if they were not checked. But take 
the Bible, and study it well, and you will read 
abundance of adventures and wonders too. But 
take notice of this — they are all true. God him- 
self assures us that they are all true. 

Hilary. Perhaps I have skipped them when I 
have read in the Bible. 

Uncle. No. I understand how it is. I also 
used to consider it a dull and tedious book ; but 
the more I read in it, the more interesting it grows. 
You can hardly open it without finding some won- 
derful narrative. The history of our blessed Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ is exceedingly wonderful 
and affecting too. His birth at Bethlehem — his 
miracles — his feeding thousands — his stilling the 
tempest — his raising the girl, and the widow's son, 
and Lazarus — all are most delightful histories. 
A.nd then what did you ever reaa so wonderful as 
his trial, his crucifixion, his resurrection, his ascen- 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 2i 

sion, his appearing to Stephen, and to Saul, and 
to John ? 

Hilary. Are there such wonderful things in the 
first part of the Bible ? 

Uncle. Surely there are. Have you never read 
of Daniel in the lion's den — of Elijah and Enoch, 
who were carried to heaven without ever dying — 
of the army of Gideon — of the sun and moon stand- 
ing still — of the manna — of the pillar of cloud — of 
the flood — of the tower of Babel ? Then of all the 
histories I ever read, I never saw any one so inte- 
resting and affecting as that of Joseph. It is hard 
to read it without weeping. 

Hilary. I wonder then that people do not read 
the Bible more. 

Uncle. So do I. It is strange to see how igno- 
rant many in this Christian land are about this 
sacred book. Some who pass for educated men 
and women are as ignorant as the rest. They 
cannot tell how many books are in the Bible, 
though they pretend to read in it every day. They 
cannot tell who wrote it, or when it was written, 
or how many languages it was written in. They 
do not know where the places are that are men- 
tioned in Scripture. And while they are so igno- 
rant, they cannot take any interest in the book. 
It is like a box of jewels in a man's house, which 
ne never opens. 



28 AN INTRODUCTION 

Ernest. Uncle, I wish you would tell us some 
of these things, for I am one of these ignorant 
people. I know the Bible is a box of precious 
jewels ; but I cannot open it. 

Uncle. I must try to give you a key. And it 
will be a great pleasure to me to show you and 
Hilary how you may enjoy this treasure. 

Hilary. O do so, dear uncle ; for I begin to see 
that I have never thought enough of this book. 

Uncle. You must not expect me to tell you all I 
have to say in a single day, or even a single week. 
We will converse about this matter every day, and 
a little at a time. Then you will not be weary. 
There is one great reason why we should prize 
the Bible above all other books. I suppose you 
can guess what I mean. 

Ernest. It is God's book. 

Uncle. That is the very thing I meant. It is 
God's own book. It is the only book which was 
written by inspiration. 

Hilary. What is inspiration ? 

Uncle. I mean that the good men who wrote 
ihe Scriptures did not themselves find out the things 
which they wrote. They did not make up the 
Scriptures by their own wisdom. They wrote 
down what God told them. God puc the things 
mto their minds, and kept them from making mis 
takes. That is, God inspired them This teach 



TO THE SCRIPTURES 29 

mg is called inspiration. " Holy men of God 
spake as they were moved (inspired) of the Holy 
Ghost." 2 Pet. i. 21. 

Ernest. Then we are sure every word in the 
Scriptures is true. 

Uncle. Yes ; every word ; just as true as if God 
were to speak it to us from heaven. 

Hilary. Is this the reason why the Bible is some- 
times called the Word of God ? 

Uncle. It is so. It is the message of God to 
men. 

Hilary. But some of the things in the Bible are 
spoken by wicked people, like Judas Iscariot, and 
even by Satan. 

Uncle. Very true. God gives us the account 
of what is thus said by the wicked. And God's 
account of what they said is true, even if the words 
of the wicked men or the devil are not true. If 
you were to hear, that on a certain day God would 
speak out of heaven, and tell you what his will is ; 
would you not be very serious ? Would you not 
be anxious to hear what might be said ? Would 
you not believe every word ? 

Ernest and Hilary. O, yes ! 

Uncle. If God, instead of speaking out of heaven, 
were to write down his holy law with his own 
hand, would you not think it very precious ? 
Would you not read it again and again ? 
3* 



30 AN INTRODUCTION 

Both. Yes. 

Uncle. But God did write the commandments 
m this very way, and he gave them to Moses ; 
and we have a copy of them, made by Moses, in 
the twentieth chapter of Exodus. 

Hilary. O ! I never considered that. It is so 
indeed. 

Uncle. But suppose, instead of writing with his 
own hand, God should instruct a holy man, and 
inspire him to write down his own will on paper. 
And suppose this paper should be put into your 
hands. What should you think of it ? 

Ernest. I think I should read it till I knew all 
that was in it. 

Uncle. This is just what God has actually done. 
He instructed the prophets and apostles by his 
Holy Spirit. He inspired them to tell us his truth 
and his will. He kept them from all mistakes. 
And they wrote down the words of God. And the 
book containing what they wrote is put into our 
hands. And this book is the Bible. 

Hilary. Then the Bible is a great deal better 
than all other books. 

Uncle. Indeed it is. It gives us an account of 
tilings which no mortal could ever have found out, 
unless God had inspired him. And it teaches us 
about the Son of God, and what he said and did 
when he was upon earth. 



TO THE .i^RIPTURES. 31 

Hilary What an honour it was to hear Christ 
talk ! 

Ernest. Uncle, I often think I should have loved 
to see Christ, and to hear him teaching. 

Uncle. Suppose you knew a man who had heard 
Jesus preach ; would you not desire him to tell you 
what our Saviour said ? 

Ernest. Yes ; I think I would travel a grea* 
way to see such a man. 

Uncle. But suppose this man should save you 
the trouble of travelling to see him, and should 
write you a letter. And suppose he should put 
down in this letter a great many things that Christ 
said. 

Hilary. Why, uncle Austin, such a letter would 
be worth a thousand dollars. 

Uncle. Boys, take notice — there were a number 
of men who heard Christ preach. 

Emest. O, yes — the apostles ; but they are 
dead. 

Uncle. The apostles heard the blessed Saviour, 
and learned the truth from his own lips. They are 
dead, I know. But some of them did exactly what 
I imagined. They have written to us. And they 
have put down in their writing a great many things 
mat Christ said. 

Hilary. I understand you, uncle. You mean 
the gospels 



32 AN INTRODUCTION 

Uncle. Matthew and John were apostles ; they 
wrote down what the blessed Saviour said, and 
what he did, and here we have it all in the New 
Testament. Mark and Luke were pious men, 
who were always with the apostles, and who were 
inspired to write the same. Read what Luke says 
about his knowledge of Christ. Luke i. 2 — 4. 
James, and Peter, and Jude were apostles who 
also wrote. And Paul was inspired to write more 
than all the rest. So you see the Bible is a great 
and lovely book. 

Just then Miss Priscilla opened the door to say 
that tea was ready. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 33 



CHAPTER IIT. 

Egypt — The Bible gives us the earliest account of Egypt — It 
is the oldest book in the world — Our only history of early 
times — The book of greatest wisdom — Folly of heathens and 
infidels — The Bible teaches us our duty — Reveals to us fu- 
turity — 'The Bible shows the way to be saved. 

The winter of which I am writing was very 
severe. On the morning following the conversa- 
tion just related, the ground was covered with a 
deep snow, so that the boys were forced to remain 
in the house* This gave their uncle a good oppor- 
tunity to teach them many useful things. When 
they arose from breakfast, he conducted the two 
brothers into his study, and said, " Well, my young 
friends, you see there is no out-door amusement 
for you to-day. You must make yourselves con- 
tented with the company of an old man, in the 
house. And let me say to you, we ought to be 
thankful that we have a roof over our heads. 
Many poor creatures, on this cold day, have no 
dwelling-place, and scarcely any clothing. The 
snow, which keeps us in the house, is useful to the 
fields of grain. The farmers tell us, that in win- 
ters when no snow falls, the grain is often injured 
The snow and the rain are both wisely and merci- 
fally sent, in their season, by the Creator." 



34 



AN INTRODUCTION 



Ernest I have heard it said that it never rains 
in Egypt. 

Uncle. That is true, to a great extent. Neither 
rain nor snow ever falls in that country, unless on 
some very rare occasion. As to snow, they do 
not know what it is. The great river Nile, by 
Overflowing its banks, waters the earth, and makes 
rain unnecessary. Look at the map. This is one 
of the most wonderful countries in the world. 
When Greece was a barbarous region, and when 
there was no such city as Rome, thousands of years 
before America or even Great Britain was disco- 
vered by civilized men, Egypt was a great king- 
dom. You have heard of the pyramids. No one 




knows when they were built, or by whom, or fo* 
what purpose. 

Ernest. Are there no histories of Egypt ? 

Uncle. The oldest histories have perished, thou- 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 



35 




tends of years ago. The first we read about Egypt 
*s in the Scriptures. 

Hilary. Why, is the Bible so old as that \ 



36 Atf INTRODUCTION 

Uncle. The books of Moses contain the earliest 
history in the world ; and the Bible is the oldest 
book in the world. This is one thing which ren- 
ders it so interesting. No other book can tell us 
any thing about the creation of the world. But the 
Bible gives us God's own account of the way in 
which all things were first made. It tells us how 
the whole human family descended from one pair. 
It relates to us the destruction of the world by a 
flood of water. It informs us how the sons of 
Noah and their descendants settled the various 
parts of the earth. 

Ernest. I thought some of the Greek and Latin 
books were very ancient. 

Uncle. So they are, but not to be compared to 
the books of Moses. Homer is the oldest Greek 
poet, but no one pretends that he lived earlier than 
the year nine hundred and fifty before Christ, and 
that is only about the time of king Asa. Herodotus 
is the oldest Greek historian, and he lived much 
later still, about four hundred and fifty years before 
Christ, that is about the time of Nehemiah. 

Hilary. Should we not know any thing about 
these old times, if we had no Bible ? 

Uncle. We should have no certain knowledge. 
No one could tell the age of the human race, with- 
out the Bible. We should have nothing but the 
ridiculous fables of the heathen, which boys read 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 37 

in Greek find Latin books, and which are too ridi 
cuions to be mentioned. But, my dear boys, this 
nistory is but a small part of what this blessed book 
contains. It is written by the inspiration of the 
all-wise God. All that is in it is true. But, more 
than this, all that is in it is most ivise. It is the 
book of wisdom. All the wise men on the earth 
could not produce such a book. 

Hilary. Our teacher says that Socrates was a 
very wise man. 

Uncle. He was wise for a heathen ; but any 
Sunday-school child in America, who has been 
well taught, knows more about God than Socrates 
did. And the Bible makes the difference. Solo- 
mon was a wise king, and he says, " He that walk- 
eth with the wise shall be wise." That is, if you 
want to get wisdom, you must keep company with 
those who have it. Now if you knew that the 
very wisest man in the world was going to open a 
school, would you not like to go to him to be his 
scholars ? 

Ernest. Yes, because I should know that hje 
would never make any mistakes, or teach me any 
thing wrong. 

Hilary. Yes, and if he was so wise, he would 
teach us the very best things, and would not teach 
us useless things. 

Uncle. Then you ought, for this very reason 
4 



38 AN INTRODUCTION 

to learn from the Bible. When you read the Bible, 
you are reading the wisdom of the wisest men. 
Yes, you are reading the wisdom of the all-wise 
God. It is just as if you conversed with the wisest 
of all teachers. This book will never lead you 
into mistakes ; it will never teach you any thing 
wrong. It will teach you the verv best things, in 
the very best way. It will never teach you any 
thing trifling, vain, or useless. 

Ernest. But is there not a great deal of wisdom 
in other books ? 

Uncle. I do not despise other books. I read 
many of them, and they help me to understand the 
Scriptures. But they do not tell me how my soul 
is to be saved. And besides, all the true knowledge 
which is in the world about God and about religion, 
comes from God. It was revealed by him. And 
if we had no Bible, we should have hardly any of 
it. Much of the wisdom of the heathens was 
learned from the Jews, who had the Scriptures. 

Ernest. Do you think, if we had no Bible, we 
•sliDuld be heathen ? 

Uncle. Certainly ; either heathen or infidels 
We should be either idolaters or atheists. This 
is just the fact where the Bible has never been 
known. The people are " without God." Those 
fine writers, whose works you read at school, 
such as Homer and Virgil, were heathen. The 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. SO 

Greeks had thirty thousand gods. The Romans 
were as bad. 

Hilary, That is very strange ! Why, had they 
no more sense than this ? Any little child knows 
better now. 

Uncle, Yes, any Christian child. Bat, Hilary, 
you yourself would not know any better, if yoi 
had not received it from the Scriptures. I have 
been in countries where the people know nothing 
about the true God ; they worshipped hundreds of 
horrid images. This was because they had no 
Bible. 

Ernest, But surely, my dear uncle, you think 
that the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and the Greeks 
had some wisdom. 

Uncle, Yes, my son ; you are right. These 
ancient nations had learned men among them. The 
Chaldeans used to live in their wide-spread 
plains, where they could see the heavenly bodies 
with ease ; and so they became astronomers. But 
take notice, they worshipped these very things. 
They adored the sun, the moon, and the stars, and 
denied the one true God. And the Greeks wor- 
shipped dead men whom they called heroes, and 
false gods whom they described as abominably 
wicked. And the Egyptians worshipped hawks, 
serpents^ cats, crocodiles, monkeys; yes, and even 
the leeks and onions in their gardens. 



40 AN INTRODUCTION 

Ernest. O, horrible ! 

Hilary. They were no better than fools. 

Uncle. Such fools we should be, if God had not 
in infinite mercy given us his inspired truth. The 
wise heathen were fools in these great matters. 
So the apostle Paul says of them, " Professing 
themselves to be wise, they became fools, and 
changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an 
image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, 
and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." Rom. 
i. 22, 23. 

Ernest. I heard a Mr. Bald say that nobody 
needs the Bible now. 

Uncle. Why not T 

Ernest. He said that there were wise men who 
could give us as much light as the Bible. He said 
that ha knew people whom he called philosophers, 
and that they could tell us every thing we need 
know about our duty, and the way to be happy. 

Uncle. This was foolish and wicked talk. If 
this Mr. Bald had been born in China, he would 
be a heathen. Why is he not a heathen ? 

Hilary. Because he lives in a Christian land. 

Uncle. What gives more light to this Christian 
and — more than there is in China ? 

Hilary. It is the Bible. 

Uncle. Then does not Mr. Bald get much of 
[lis light and knowledge from the Bible ? 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 41 

Ernest. Yes ; for if there had been no Bible, 
ke would have been no better than the Chinese. 
~t is the Bible which makes his philosophers know 
the little they do know. 

Uncle. A man once took a lantern, and put a 
lamp into it, and lighted it, and set it on a post in 
the middle of a field. Then he called his wife and 
children, and said to them, " Wliat a wonderful 
light ! Look, you can see all the trees and houses 
for a mile around !" His wife smiled, and said, 
" Yes, but the sun is shining with all his glory, 
for it is noonday." 

Ernest. The man was silly. 

Uncle. Yes ; he was almost an idiot. He thought 
his lantern made the day. But infidel philosophers, 
like Mr. Bald, are quite as silly. They make 
speeches, and write books, and say, " What a won- 
derful philosophy we have ! What a light !" and 
all the while it is the Bible which makes the light, 
and gives them the little knowledge they possess. 

Ernest. Mr. Bald does not do his duty, even if 
he does know w r hat it is. For I heard him curse 
and swear. 

Uicle. This is the reason why most infidels 

hate the Bible ; they hate the pure law of God 

which it contains. They do not wish to do their 

duty. The Bible tells us what we owe to God 

4* 



42 AN INTRODUCTION 

Our duty is what God requires of us. It is hard 
to find this out without revelation. 

Ernest. Sometimes I do not know whether 
what I am doing is right or wrong. 

Uncle. If God were to speak in a voice of thun- 
ler from heaven, and say, " This is the way 9 walk 
ye in it" you would at once know what your duty 
i*. Now God has done as much as this : for in 
the Scriptures he has given us a rule to direct us 
how to please him. The Bible tells us plainly 
what we must do, and what we must not do. This 
is what no heathen philosopher, and no proud in- 
fidel, could tell us. 

Ernest. I suppose the heathen did not know 
what becomes of people when tney die. 

Uncle. They could only guess. They had a 
hundred different notions about the world to come. 
Some thought the soul died with the body. Some 
thought the soul passed from one body to another, 
through a great number of animals. Some thought 
there was a place under the earth where the good 
were happy, and where the wicked were tormented. 
Many of them wished for immortality, but could 
not be sure of it. It is this sacred volume which 
explains the great secret. You can nowhere else 
find it explained. Here you learn how to over- 
come the fear of death. Here you see 'leath con 
quered. Here you have an account given of heaven 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. IS 

and hell, of judgment and eternity. Is not this then 
the most important book in the world ? 

Ernest. Yes, indeed : I see it to be so. And 
I think there is one thing more you might have 
stud. 

Uncle. What is that ? 

Ernest. The Scriptures tell us how to get to 
heaven. 

Uncle. You say well. The way to be saved 
is the great thing in which every human being is 
concerned. Here you learn the way. Christ is 
the way, the truth, and the life. The Holy Scrip- 
tures explain to us how Jesus came as a Saviour. 
Life and immortality are brought to light by the 
gospel. Only the Scriptures show us how we may 
find pardon for our sins. This is the glory of the 
whole book. 

Hilary. But does the Old Testament tell about 
Christ?' 

Uncle. Yes, my dear boy. The Old Testament 
is full of instructions about Christ. These are not 
so clear as those in the New Testament, but the 
New Testament shows us the meaning of the Old. 
All the sacrifices were signs of the sacrifice of 
Christ. The prophets prophesied of Christ. And 
" Jesus Christ is the sum and substance of the 
Scriptures. " 



44 AN INTRODUCTION 

After these remarks, unck Austin arose, and 
told the boys that he wished to spend an hour o^ 
two in reading. He therefore gave them permis- 
sion to go into the parlour, and amuse themselves 
with such exercises as they could take within 
doors. 

Ernest and Hilary played until they were fatigued, 
and then sat down to talk. It was very natural for 
them to speak of what their uncle had said. 

Hilary. I do not wonder that they call him the 
Bible man, for uncle seems to think of nothing 
else. 

Ernest. But this does not keep him from doing 
a great deal of good. There are many poor fami- 
lies around Oakdale whom he visits every week. 
When the neighbours are sick, he supplies them 
with food and medicine. 

Hilary. He ought to have been a minister. 

Ernest. People can do a great deal of good 
without being ministers. Some persons would not 
listen to what uncle Austin says, if they knew him 
to be a minister. But now, when they know that 
he is a rich old gentleman, they attend to what he 
teaches them. He has three Sunday-schools in 
this neighbourhood. 

Hilary. Surely he does not teach them himself ! 

Ernest. No, not exactly. He set them up, and 
persuaded some of the pious young people to be- 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 45 

come teachers Then he gave them little lilraries 
to begin with, and every Lord's-day he visits some 
one of them. 

Hilary. Now I am sure that the Bible does not 
make any one dull or cross. Uncle Austin is the 
very Kindest old gentlemen I ever saw. Ernest, I 
think we must read a little in the Bible every day. 

Ernest. Wait alittle; if you think so now, you 
will think so much more after you have been here 
a few days. But I hear uncle's little bell ringing. 
John is going to get his horse. We must run and 
help to get him ready for riding out. 



46 AN INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER IV. 

Divisions of the Bible — Into Testaments — Meaning of the wori 
Bible — Meaning of the word Testament — Names by which 
the Bible is known — Apocrypha—Original languages of Scrip- 
ture — The Hebrew — The Greek — The Bible written at va- 
rious times — Made up of many books — Number of these — 
Divisions of the Old Testament — Historical, doctrinal, poet- 
ical, and prophetical books — Form of ancient books — Hebrew 
writing — Service of the synagogues. 

Another day came, and it was a very agrevAAe 
day for the boys, for they had a house full of their 
young cousins, who were invited to dine with them. 
They enjoyed many sports and many conversations 
among themselves, and their uncle came into their 
gay circle, now and then, with a smiling counte- 
nance, making them useful presents, and giving 
them good advice. But though the day was so 
pleasant, yet Ernest and Hilary agreed that they 
should be glad for the next day to come, that they 
might hear something more in the study. 

The next morning, as usual, they were called 
into the study. A large and beautiful book lay 
upon the table in the middle of the room. Uncle 
Austin said to them, " Boys, open that book. 

Ernest. It is a beautiful Bible ! It is the largest 
1 ever saw. 



TO THE SCRIPTUBK5. 47 

Hilary. The print is so large that one could 
almost read it across the room. 

Uncle. I brought it with me from England. It 
was printed at Oxford. I find it very pleasant for 
my old eyes. Now look at it, and tell me into 
what parts it is divided. 

Ernest. O, I know that very well. There are 
two parts — the Old Testament and the New Tes- 
tament. 

Uncle. Yes ; these are the two great divisions 
of the Scriptures. Both these together make up 
the Bible. 

Hilary. But we speak of the Bible and the Tes- 
tament. Is the Testament a part of the Bible ? 

Uncle. It is a vulgar error. Ignorant people call 
the Old Testament the Bible; and they call the 
New Testament the Testament. 

Ernest. They ought to say the Bible for the 
whole ; the Old Testament for the first part, and 
the New Testament for the other part. Hereafter 
I shall try to remember. 

Uncle\ Take notice, there are two Testaments, 
and these two Testaments make the Bible. Instead 
of saying the Testament, say the New Testament. 

Ernest. But what does Bible mean ? 

Uncle. Bible is a word derived from the Greek 
Biblia in Greek means the Books. Biblia in Latin 
means the same. These words are in the plural 



48 AN INTRODUCTION 

number The English word Bible means ike 
Book. We call the Scriptures the Book, because 
they are the best of books. 

Ernest. Are there not other names ? 

Uncle. Yes ; the Bible is called the Scriptures* 
or writings : the Holy Scriptures, or holy writings, 
because it was written by inspiration of God's Holy 
Spirit. In the Scriptures themselves, we do nol 
find the name Bible. But the common names there 
given are the Scriptures, the Law, (the Word of 
God.) Turn to Psalm cxix. 

Ernest. Here it is ; it has a hundred and seventy 
six verses ! 

Uncle. Yes ; and every verse has something in 
honour of the Scriptures. The psalmist had not 
half so much of the Bible as we have, but he loved 
what he had. Just see how many names he gives 
the law of God in this one psalm. I will read 
them. The Law of the Lord — God's Testimo- 
nies- — Precepts — Statutes — Commandments — Judg- 
ments—God's Word, (ver. 9. 11. 16. 25. 41—43, 
58. 65. 101. 114. 133. 140. 158. 160, 161. 170;) 
God's Words — the Law of God's mouth. 

Ernest. But some Bibles have another part be- 
tween the Old and the New Testaments. 

Uncle. That is what is called the Apocrypha 
It is not inspired. It is no part of God's revelation 
Some of it is good, and some of it is bad ; but it is 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 49 

not Scripture. Let me ask you a question : Is this 
the language in which the Bible was written at 
first 9 

Ernest. No, sir, I suppose not. 

Uncle. Ernest, you surely know in what lan- 
guage the New Testament was written. 

Ernest. Yes, sir, in the Greek language ; for I 
have to read the Greek Testament with my teacher. 

Uncle. Very well. Then you have only to 
learn that the rest of the Bible was written in He- 
breiv. These two languages, Hebreiv and Greek, 
are the two which God chose to give us his reve- 
lation in. 

Hilary. Why did God select these languages ? 

Uncle. Hebrew was the language of the pa- 
triarchs, and of the Israelites, who were the peo- 
ple of God, and the only people on earth who had 
a revelation. Greek was the language most exten- 
sively used in the world at the time of our Saviour. 
Rut I shall say more of these things at another time, 

Hilary. Was the Old Testament all written by 
the same person ? 

Uncle. O, no ; by no means : by more than 
twenty different inspired men. People are apt to 
fall into a great mistake about this. When they 
see all in one volume, they think it is all one com 
position. But the truth is, the Bible is made u\ 
of a large number of separate books. 
5 



10 AN INTRODUCTION 

Hilary. Then I suppose they were not written 
all at once ? 

Uncle. Not at all They were written at dif- 
ferent times. From the time at which the first 
book of the Old Testament was written till the 
time the last book was written, is more than a 
thousand years ; and from the first book in the 
Bible till the last, there is more than nineteen hun- 
dred years. 

Hilary. Is it possible ! Then the book of 
Genesis is almost two thousand years older than 
the book of Revelation ! 

Uncle. Exactly so. You see that you might 
take out each of these separate parts, and make a 
little volume of it by itself. It would be a little 
library of itself. There you would have some 
books by Moses, some by Solomon, some by Ezra, 
and so on. Now look at this Bible, and tell me 
how many books it contains. 

Hilary. I will count them. There are just 
sixty-six, beginning with Genesis and ending with 
Eevelation. 

Ernest. Yes ; there are thirty -nine in the Old 
Testament, and tioenty-seven in the New Testa- 
ment. 

Uncle. Now remember what you learned just 
now. The first division we make is into the two 
Testaments. This is very simple ; you cannot 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 51 

forget it. But let us take the Old Te?t amenta ana 
see if we cannot make some convenient division 
of it. 

Ernest. Yes, into thirty-nine separ?te rooks. 

Uncle. Very true ; but we can make a division 
more easy to be remembered. Some of these 
thirty-nine books relate histories : let us call these 
historical. Some of them are poems, like the 
Psalms, or books of instruction, like Ecclesiastes : 
let us call these doctrinal or poetical. The re- 
mainder are predictions of things to come : let us 
call these prophetical. 

Ernest. See if I understand you. The Old 
Testament is divided into three parts : 

I. The Historical Books. 

II. The Doctrinal or Poetical Books. 

III. The Prophetical Books. 

Hilary. Will you inform me which are in each 
of these divisions ? 

Uncle. The historical books are seventeen . 
namely, 1. Genesis. 2. Exodus. 3. Leviticus. 
i. Numbers. 5. Deuteronomy. 6. Joshua. 
7. Judges. 8. Ruth 9. The first book of Samuel. 
10 The second book of Samuel. 11. The first 
book of Kings. 12. The second book of Kings. 
13. The first book of Chronicles. 14. The second 
book of Chronicles. 15. Ezra* 16. Nehemiah 
17. Esther 



52 AN INTRODUCTION 

The doctrinal or poetical books are five : 
namely, 1. Job. 2. Psalms. 3. Proverbs. 4. Eo 
clesiast.es. 5. The Song of Solomon. 

The prophetical books are equal in number to 
the historical, seventeen: namely, 1. Isaiah. 2. Je- 
remiah. 3. lamentations. 4. Ezekiel. 5. Daniel. 
6. Hosea. 7. Joel. 8. Amos. 9. Obadiah. 10. Jo- 
nah. 11. Micah. 12. Nahum. 13. Habakkuk. 
14. Zephaniah. 15. Haggai. 16. Zechariah. 
17. Malachi. 

Ernest. Can we divide them any further? 

Uncle. It is not very necessary. But you may 
as well learn now, as at any other time, that the 
first five historical books were written by Moses # 
They are sometimes called the books of Moses 
The Jews called them the Law. They are also 
called the Pentateuch, a Greek word, meaning 
" five books," or " five volumes." 

The prophetical books are also divided into the 
greater and the lesser. The greater prophets are 
the first four, — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and 
Daniel. The lesser or minor prophets are all the 
rest. 

Ernest. Were these books in separate volumes ? 

Uncle. The Jews always had the Pentateuch in 
one book, which they called the Book of the Law. 
But I snail show yow. that the ancient books were 
not Like our's. They were rolls of skin, and looked 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 



53 



more like a map upon rollers, than any Ihing 
eise. 




Hilary, Did you not say that all the Old Testa- 
ment was written in Hebrew ? 

Uncle. I did. But there is a little exception to 
be made. There is a language called Chaldee* 
which was spoken in Chaldea, where the Israelites 
were carried away captive. A very small part of 
the Bible is in this language. But the Chaldee 
parts are only a few pages in all.* 

Hilary. I wish to see what the Hebrew looks 
like. 

* The following parts are in Chaldee : — Daniel ii. 4- vil. 
E^ra iv. 8— vi. 18; vii. 12—26. Jer. x. 11. 



54 AN INTRODUCTION 

Uncle. Very well ; let me write down the first 
verse in the Bible in Hebrew for you. 

ty^n run cwn dn dtiSn n-d jwn-d 

There you have it. But you can see it better in a 
Hebrew Bible. Take this Hebrew Bible, and exa- 
mine it, with the points. 

Hilary. Uncle, the title-page seems to be at 
the end. 

Uncle. What you call the end is the beginning. 
The Hebrews always began at the right hand of 
the page when they wrote, and not, as we do, at 
the left hand. So thai the first page is where the 
last would be in an English book. 

Ernest. Whereabouts is the Hebrew language 
spoken ? 

Uncle. Pure Hebrew is not spoken anywhere 
on earth at this time. It is read by the Jews, and 
by many learned Christians. 

Ernest. But it was spoken in eld times ? 

Uncle. Yes ; it was spoken by the Hebrews, 
and especially by the Israelites. Many good men 
believe that Adam and Eve spake Hebrew, and 
that it was Hebrew which God taught them. 

Ernest. Then it is the oldest of all languages. 

Uncle. It is. We do not know of any older 
language. Many languages are derived from it. 
It was spoken by all the people of Palestine ; by 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 



55 




56 AN INTRODUCTION 

the Phenicians, north of Palestine ; by the Canaan- 
ites; and, it is said, by the Carthaginians, who 
were originally Phenicians. But, besides this, I 
have no doubt it was once the language of the great 
nations all around Palestine. During the seventy 
years of captivity, the Hebrews lost much of their 
own language, and borrowed much from the Chal- 
dee, which was very nearly like Hebrew. But 
the difference was such, that the Bible was ex 
plained in Chaldee for the use of the Jews. 

Hilary, Do the Jews understand Hebrew ? 

Uncle. At the present day, only a part of the 
Jews understand Hebrew perfectly. There are 
learned men among them who are great Hebrew 
scholars ; but many of them read the words with- 
out knowing very well what they mean. Have 
you ever been at the Jewish synagogue ? 

Hilary. Yes, sir, we have both been to the 
synagogue in New York. We heard them read 
and sing, for several hours, in a T ^ery strange lan- 
guage. 

Unrte. That was Hebrew. Every Jew is taught 
in his childhood to pronounce the language. They 
honour the Old Testament, and read some part of 
it in the synagogues every Sabbath. They have 
done this for two thousand years. They have the 
Pentateuch divided into fifty-four sections, and they 
read one of these every Saturday. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 57 

Ernest, Do they read nothing but the Laio ? 

Uncle. Yes ; they read in the prophets, also 
About a hundred and sixty years before Christ, 
Antioehus forbade them to read the law. They 
therefore took fifty-four sections of the prophets, 
and read them. When they were again allowed 
to read the law, they continued to read the pro- 
phets also. 

Hilary. When I go again to the synagogue, I 
will pay more attention to what they do. 

Uncle. That will be right. But now we must 
think of some other business for the morning. I 
am afraid you think all this very dry. But you 
should remember that it is very useful. And after 
a few more conversations, I shall have something 
much more entertaining to teach you. 

The boys thanked their good uncle, and left his 
stady, to go and prepare for a visit they were about 
to make to the neighbouring village. 



68 AN INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER V. 

The New Testament — Why written in Greek — Period between 
the two Testaments — Divisions of the New Testament — His- 
torical, doctrinal, and prophetical books — Writers of the dif- 
ferent books — Table of tne writers and dates — Advantage oi 
reading the Bible in the original — How the Moslems read the 
Koran — The word Gospel — The catholic epistles. 

The next conversation was about the second 
great division of the Bible, or, the New Testament. 
The boys were seated in the study before a good 
fire, when their uncle began thus : 

Uncle. Yesterday I explained to you several 
things about the Old Testament. To-day I mean 
to talk about the New Testament. 

Ernest. What is the meaning of Testament ? 

Uncle. It means covenant. This second part 
of the Bible is called the New Covenant by the 
early Christian writers, just as the former part was 
called the Old Covenant. You will find the words 
used by Paul, in 2 Cor. iii. 6 — 18. Whether in 
this place the apostle means the books, or only the 
precepts and truths of the books, is not agreed. 

Ernest. Why were the Scriptures called Cove- 
nants, or Testaments? 

Uncle. Because they contain the revelation of 
God's dealings with mankind, which are often 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 5.9 

called covenants. Especially the New Testament 
contains the covenant of our salvation. The word 
testament often means a last will, or the writing 
by which a man leaves any thing to his heirs. 
This book contains an account of the Christian 
inheritance. The New Testament was written in 
the Greek Ian ornate . 

Hilary. Why was it not written in Hebrew ? 

Uncle. For two reasons. First, because at the 
time of our Saviour the Hebrew language was very 
little spoken. Secondly, because the revelation 
of God was now to be given, not to the Hebrews 
alone, but to all nations. 

Hilary. Did not Christ and the apostles speak 
Hebrew ? 

Uncle. They no doubt knew the Hebrew ; but 
the common language of Palestine, at that time, 
was a dialect of Hebrew ; that is a sort of Hebrew 
much altered. It has sometimes been called Syro- 
Chaldaic, because it was between Syriac and Chal- 
dee. But the New Testament was not written in 
this dialect, because it was understood in only a 
small part of the earth. 

Hilary. Bui why was the Greek language 
chosen ? 

Uncle. Because it was read and spoken all over . 
the Roman empire. You must know that at that 
time the Romans were the masters of all the civil- 



60 AN INTRODUCTION 

ized world. They had conquered a large part of 
Europe, Asia, and Africa. Palestine was undei 
their power. 

Ernest. But was not Latin the language of the 
Romans ? Why was not the New Testament writ- 
ten in Latin ? 

Uncle. Latin was the Roman language, and it 
was spoken in Italy ; but Greek was more com- 
monly used in all other parts of the Roman empire. 
Every educated person learned Greek, even at 
Rome. Juvenal tells us that ladies spoke Greek. 
Cicero says the Greek was read in almost all na- 
tions. If any other language had been used, these 
writings could not have been understood except in 
one narrow region. 

Ernest. Does the New Testament begin just at 
the time that the Old Testament ends ? 

Uncle. No ; there is a period between the two 
of more than four hundred years. Some very im- 
portant events happened during this period. You 
must know something of this in order to under- 
stand the Scriptures. It was during this period 
that Asia was invaded by Alexander the Great; 
that Judea was invaded by Antiochus, and tha* 
Palestine was subdued by the Romans. 

Ernest. There are twenty-seven books in the 
New Testament. Now can we divide tlwse as 
we did those of the Old ? 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 61 

Uncle, Yes ; and we may use the very same 
division. Some of these books relate the history 
of Christ and his apostles : let us call these his- 
torical. Some of them are letters containing Chris- 
tian doctrine : let us call these doctrinal. The 
only book left is the last in the Bible, which is a 
book of predictions : let us call this prophetical. 

Hilary. I will repeat. The New Testament is 
divided into three parts : 

I. The Historical Books. 

II. The Doctrinal Books. 

III. The PropTietical Book. 

Uncle. Now open your Bible. The historical 
books are five , namely, the Gospels, and the Acts 
of the Apostles. 

The doctrinal books are twenty-one ; namely, 
1. The Epistle to the Romans. 2. The first Epis- 
tle to the Corinthians. 3. The second Epistle to 
the Corinthians. 4. The Epistle to the Galatians. 
5. The Epistle to the Ephesians. 6. The Epistle 
to the Philippians. 7. The Epistle to the Colos- 
sians. 8. The first Epistle to the Thessalonians. 
9. The second Epistle to the Thessalonians. 10. The 
first Epistle to Timothy. 11. The second Epistle 
to Timothy. 12. The Epistle to Titus. 13. The 
Epistle to Philemon. 14. The Epistle to the He- 
brews. 15. The Epistle of James. 16. The first 
Epistle of Peter. 17. The second Epistle of Peter. 
6 



62 AN INTRODUCTION 

18 The hrst Epistle of John. 19. The second 
Epistle of John. 20. The third Epistle of John. 
21. The Epistle of Jude. 

The prophetical book is the Revelation of John 

Ernest. How many different persons were em- 
ployed in writing these twenty-seven books 1 

Uncle. Eight persons. 

Hilary. Were they all apostles ? 

Uncle. All except Mark and Luke, and these 
were constant companions of the apostles. Mark 
attended on Peter, and Luke on Paul. 

Hilary. Who wrote the most ? 

Uncle. The apostle Paul wrote more than any. 
Next to him, the apostle John. Next, Luke. Then 
Matthew, Mark, Peter, James, and Jude. 

Ernest. Are the books placed in our Bibles in 
the order in which they were written ? 

Uncle. No ; you would greatly mistake if you 
took up this notion. It is a common error. The 
epistles are arranged after the histories. But some 
of the epistles were written first. First come the 
epistles of Paul, and then those of the other apos- 
tles. And the epistles of Paul are arranged accord- 
ing to their length; first that to the Romans, which 
is his longest ; and last, that to Philemon, which 
is his shortest. The Epistle to the Hebrews is 
not, indeed, taken into this arrangement, because it 
has not the apostle Paul's name. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 63 

Ernest. This is new to me. Are tne other 
epistles arranged in the same way ? 

Uncle. Very much in the same way; for James 
is rather longer than the First of Peter ; and the 
epistles of John are arranged agreeably to their 
length. 

Hilary. Did our Saviour write any thing him* 
self? 

Uncle. We have no knowledge of his having 
written any thing. 

Hilary. I suppose that the epistles were written 
at differ ent times. 

Uncle. Yes ; and at different places. Learned 
men differ as to the exact time when each book 
was written, and we cannot be certain. I will show 
you a list drawn up according to Dr. Lardner. You 
will find another calculation in the Union Bible 
Dictionary, under the word Epistles. 

Ernest. Then there are forty-four years between 
the first and the last book of the New Testament. 

Uncle. Yes ; if Dr. Lardner is right in his cal- 
culation. And you see that it was some time after 
our Saviour's ascension into heaven that the first 
of these books was written. Our Saviour ascended 
in the year 33, and the Epistle to the Thessalonians 
was written in the year 52. 

Huary. I wish to learn Greek much more than 
I ever did before. 



64 



AN INTRODUCTION 



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TO THE SCRIPTURES. 65 

Uncle. It is a fine language, and it is paiticularly 
useful, because the New Testament is written in it. 
We call the Hebrew and the Greek the original 
languages of Scripture, because the Bible was 
originally written in them. 

Ernest. Is not a translation into English just as 
good as the Greek ? 

Uncle. We ought to be very thankful to God 
that we have so good a translation ; yet no transla- 
tion can be quite equal 'to the original. There is 
always something in the translation which is not 
in the original ; and there is always something in 
the original which is not in the translation. And 
therefore it is a good thing to know the original 
languages. 

Hilary. Did you not say that all the Jewish 
children are taught to read in the Hebrew Bible ? 

Uncle. Yes ; all learn to read the words, and, 
in some countries, all learn to understand what 
they read. A Jew would be ashamed not to know 
the Hebrew letters. And among the Mohammed- 
ans, every boy is taught to read the Koran. The 
Koran is the sacred book of all who follow Mo- 
hammed. It was written by him in the Arabic 
language. And though many of the Mohammedans 
live in countries where the Arabic language is not 
spoken, yet they all learn to read the Koran in the 
original. 

6* 



66 AN INTRODUCTION 

Ernest, Why might we not learn to read Greek 
in the same manner ? 

Uncle. It is not likely that everybody ear. be 
persuaded to learn it; nor is it the duty of every 
one. But many thousands might do so, who now 
neglect it. People can learn French and Italian, 
and so they might learn Greek enough to under 
stand the New Testament. 

Ernest. I think it must be very delightful tG 
know that you are reading the very words which 
the inspired men wrote. 

Uncle. Yes ; it is so, indeed. And I hope you 
will both be diligent in learning to do so. Then I 
hope you will begin the Hebrew also. For there 
is nothing which you ever learn at school half as 
important as the Holy Scriptures. 

Hilary. But before we know Hebrew and Greek, 
what must we do ? 

Uncle. You will find enough to do, and that 
which is very profitable and delightful. You have 
this blessed English Bible, the very best translation 
which was ever made, which has, with God's bless- 
ing, made so many thousands wise unto salvation. 
Study this. Learn all about it. Read it every day 
Commit portions of it to memory. Believe it. 
Pray over it. Practise it. And you will then say, 
as the psalmist said, how I love thy law I it is 
my meditation all the day. I love thy command- 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 67 

ments above gold, yea, above fine gold. The law 
of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of 
gold and silver. 

Ernest. There is a question I should like to asK 
about the names of some of the books. Why are 
four of the historical books called Gospels ? 

Uncle. The word gospel is derived from two 
Saxon words, god — good, and spel — word or news ; 
it therefore means good news. The Greek word 
(Euaggelion) which means good news, is used to 
express the glad tidings of Messiah's coming. Matt, 
xi. 5. Rom. i. 1, 2. The early Christians gave 
this same name to the small books which contained 
the history of Christ. These books are those of 
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which are called 
the gospels according to these writers ; that is, the 
history of Christ's blessed coming, as recorded by 
these writers. From the same Greek word is de- 
rived the Latin for gospel, Evangelium $ and from 
this these writers are called the Evangelists. 

Ernest. In the table which you showed us, (see 
page 64,) all the epistles, except those of Paul, are 
called catholic epistles. I do not know what this 
means. 

Uncle. It is a very ancient name, and I am not 
sure that we know why it was first. given. Catholic 
means universal ; thus the catholic church means 
the universal church of Christ, and not the 



68 AN INTRODUCTION 

church of Home. Some think these letters are 
so called because they were not for individuals, 
but for the universal body of believers. Others 
think they were so called, from their being univer- 
sally received as Scripture. 

Hilary. What is the meaning of Apocalypse ? 

Uncle. It is only the Greek for Revelation. 
And take care not to call this last book Revelations, 
as ignorant people do, but Revelation ; for it is in 
the singular number. And now I am sure I have 
wearied you ; so you may make your escape 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 69 



CHAPTER VI. 

Ancient writing and books — Meaning of the word Volume — In- 
vention of writing — Scrolls — Materials on which books were 
written. I. Vegetable substances — Leaves of trees — Bark 
— Wood — Roman tablets — Egyptian papyrus. II. Animal 
substances ■ — ■ Skins — Parchment — Vellum — Bones — Shells. 
III. Mineral substances — Lead—- Copper — Brass — Silver — 
Gold—Stone— Bricks. 

On the next day, when Ernest and Hilary went 
into their uncle's study, they were surprised to see 
him unrolling a great skin, which looked like along 
narrow map. 

Uncle. This is not a map, as you might be ready 
to suppose, but a book. 

Hilary. A book ! Is it possible ? Why it has 
no leaves and no cover. It looks more like a large 
roll of sheepskin. 

Uncle. So it is ; nothing more nor less than a 
laige roll of sheepskin ; but still it is a book. Have 
you never heard a book called a volume ? 

Hilary. O, yes ; often. 

Uncle. Volume means something rolled up. In 
old times books were rolled in this way, 'and were 
called volumes or rolls : but I am going to tell you 
a great deal more about this. And if you will only 
be attentive, I think you will be entertained. 



70 AN INTRODUCTION 

Ernest. We will try to be attentive. But before 
you go on any further, I should like you to tell me 
who invented books and writing. Do you think 
Adam could write ? 

Uncle. That is not revealed to us. Some per- 
sons think that Moses was the inventor of writing ; 
this is the common opinion. But I have always 
thought it much more likely that the art of writing 
was known long before Moses. I have already 
told you, however, that the Pentateuch, as Moses' 
works are called, is the oldest book in existence. 

Hilary. Were all the ancient books written on 
skins like this ? 

Uncle. Many of them were, but a great variety 
of articles have been used to write upon ; and I am 
about to give you an account of these. It will help 
you to understand many parts of the Bible. These 
articles were of three sorts: 1. Vegetable sub- 
stances ; 2. Animal substances ; 3. Mineral sub- 
stances. I am unable, indeed, to inform you which 
was the very earliest writing material, but I can 
tell you of several which were certainly used by the 
ancients. 

First. The leaves of trees. In the East Indies 
the natives at this day write on leaves. In Tan- 
jore and other countries, the palmyra leaf is used ; 
and they make the letters with a sharp piece of 
metal like a bodkin. The people of Cevlon use 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 



71 




the palm leaf, which is of immense size. They 
cut out slips between one and two feet in length, 
and when they have smoothed them, they write on 
them with a steel pencil. They make holes in 
these, and string them together; and thus they have 
rooks. Pliny tells us that this was one of the most 
ancient ways of writing. 

Secondly. The bark of trees and plants. The 
Greeks called this Biblos, whence the word Biblia, 
whence Oar word Bible. Sometimes they did no- 
thing to the bark but make it smooth. The phi- 
lyra, a sort of linden tree, was much used for this 
purpose, and even the bark of some oaks. The 



12 AN INTRODUCTION 

Latin word Liber means the inner bark of a tree 
and also a book. But the ancients learned to pre- 
pare this into a sort of paper ; by separating the 
thin layers of bark, laying one on another with 
some gum or paste, and then pressing them close. 
This sort of paper was used in France, seven hun- 
dred years ago. The great fault of it was that it 
blotted. The sacred books of the Burmans are 
sometimes made of thin strips or slices of bamboo, 
plaited together nicely, so as to make a smooth 
Leaf of the required size. In the island of Suma- 



tra, south of Burmah, under the equator, the natives 
use the bark of trees for writing. 

Thirdly. Wood itself has been employed for 
books. Pliny tells us that table-books of wood were 
§n. use before the days of Homer. Before the Chi 
nese had invented their fine paper, they used thin 
pieces of wood or bamboo, on which they marked 
with an iron tool. And there are at Oxford some 
specimens of ancient Arabic writing on boards abou 4 
two feet long and six inches wide. In Ezekie 
xxxvii. 15, the Lord directs the prophet to \vr' 



TO THfc SCRIPTURES. 73 

on two sticks. These were no doubt such tablets 
o* wood. And the writing-table on which Zecha- 
nah wrote the name of John the Baptist, was a 
tablet of wood. Luke i. 63. The ancient people 
of Britain used to cut the letters on sticks having 
three or four sides, and these sticks were fixed in 
a frame. The Danes did the same, and the word 
Book is derived from the old northern word Boc, 
'"beech," because they used beechen boards to 
write on. In the Apocrypha there is a remarkable 
proof of the same thing. In second Esdras, chap- 
ter fourteenth, verse 24, we read of five men being 
M ready to write swiftly" on " many box-trees ," oi 
box-tables. And in verse 44, it is said, " In forty 
days, they wrote two hundred and four books." The 
Romans had books of this sort, made of very thin 
slips of board. And Dr. Shaw tells us, that in 
Barbary, at the north of Africa, the children at 
school learn to write on a smooth thin board, 
daubed over with whiting, which may be easily 
rubbed off. Thus they learn to read and write at 
the same time. 

Ernest. That i» like what I have seen in a Lan- 
casterian school. The little boys had shallow 
boxes or trays with sand in them, and they made 
the letters in the sand with a stick, and then rubbed 
them out again. 

Uncle. These wooden tablets were sometimes 
7 



74 AN INTRODUCTION 

covered with a coat of wax, and as many as five 
or six were occasionally joined together like a 
book. These were very useful when they did not 
wish to preserve their writing. 

Hilary. Then they answered the same purpose 
as our slates. 

Uncle. Exactly. But they likewise wrote long 
works on them. One of Plato's celebrated books, 
called the Republic, was so written. They could 
write very rapidly on these waxen tablets. Instead 
of wood, they sometimes used ivory. The Romans 
constantly carried such tablets with them, or very 
rich men were followed by a slave called Tabel- 
larius, who carried the writing materials. The 
Tabellarius often carried letters written on these 
waxed boards. I have seen a French song, writ- 
ten more than four hundred years ago, about 1376, 
which runs thus : 

Some with the antiquated style 
On waxen tablets promptly write, 
Others with finer pen the while, 
Form letters lovelier to the sight. 

Some French records of that age are still pre- 
served on such tables. I will explain presently 
how they marked on them. 

Ernest. But had these ancient people no such 
thing as paper ? 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 75 

Uncle. They had. Let me therefore say, 

Fourthly, Paper was used for writing. The 
Egyptians were the first to use paper.* It was 
made of the celebrated papyrus, or a sort of flag or 
bulrush which used to grow along the Nile, though 
at present it is found chiefly in Syria, on the Eu- 
phrates, and in India.t The stem of the papyrus 
is composed of long fibres or strings. It is naked 
and slender, except at the top, where there is a 
bunch or plume of leaves, not unlike hairs. It 
rises sometimes to the height of twenty feet. Pliny 
gives us a very particular account of the manner in 
which the ancients made paper from this reed ; and 
Bruce, a modern traveller, has explained many 
points concerning which we were before ignorant. 

Ernest. Is our word paper from this name 
vapyrus ? 

Uncle. It is. This is the first manufactured 
paper of which we have any account. It was 
made from the inner bark of the stem, by dividing 
it into thin slices or skins, as large as possible. 
The middle skins or films were the most valuable. 
They laid these slender slips or slices flat on a 

* See cut on page 35. 

j- See the beautiful engraving under article Bulrush, in 
Bible Natural History, by American Sunday-school 
Union. 



76 AN INTRODUCTION 

table, edge to edge ; over these they laid a layer 
crossing the former layer at right angles. They 
put as many layers as they thought needful, and 
moistened the whole with water. Then they 
pressed it with great weights. The gummy juice 
of the pap)rus caused the slips to stick to- 
gether into a firm sheet. When the juice was not 
sufficiently adhesive, they used wheaten paste 
After the sheets had been under press, they beat it 
with mallets, which smoothed and flattened it 
This was the famous Egyptian paper. 

Hilary. Was it used anywhere but in Egypt ? 

Uncle. Yes ; it was exported into various coun 
tries, especially into Italy. About the time of oui 
Saviour's birth, it was one of the chief articles of 
Egyptian and Roman commerce. 

Ernest. How long ago did it go out of use ? 

Uncle. I cannot inform you with certainty, 
think we may say about the middle of the seventh 
century, when the Saracens subdued Egypt, and 
thus broke up tne paper trade. 

Ernest. Are any books of this sort left? 

Uncle. Nearly eighteen hundred writings on 
papyrus have been found in the ruins of Hercula- 
neum. And Bruce, the great traveller, brought 
from Thebes, in Egypt, a fine specimen. I will 
read to you what he says: "The boards," or 
covers, ; are of papyrus root, covered first with 






TO THE SCRIPTURES. 77 

the coarse pieces of the paper, and then with lea* 
ther, in the same manner as it would be done now. 
It is a book one would call a small folio, rather 
than by any other name. The letters are strong, 
deep, black, and apparently written with a reed, as 
is practised by the Egyptians and Abyssinians still. 
It is written on both sides." 

Hilary* Then the papyrus books were not 
rolls ? 

Uncle. This book of Bruce's was not. But 
more commonly they were rolled. I have myself 
examined a roll, taken out of the case of a mummy, 
several thousand years old. It was exhibited in 
Philadelphia in 1833. Most of the mummies have 
such rolls. 

Ernest. But are you not to tell us something 
about writing on skins ? 

Uncle. I will do so. Fifthly. The shins of 
animals were used for writing materials. Hero- 
dotus, the earliest Greek historian, who lived about 
four hundred and fifty years before Christ, tells us 
that the Phenicians wrote on sheep-skins. This 
was one of the earliest inventions in the way of 
writing. Skins are strong and lasting. In the 
Pentateuch we find it said of a certain trial : " And 
the priest shall write these curses in a booh, and 
he shall blot them out with water." Num. v. 25" 

Now this writing must have been on something 

7* 



78 AN INTRODUCTION 

stronger than paper, which would go to pieces if 
dipped in water. I think it must have been some 
sort of skin or leather. "We know that the He- 
brews were able to dress skins in some ways, be- 
cause they were much used in the tabernacle ; and 
they could probably dress them so as to take ink 
or paint. 

Ernest. Is not parchment made of skins ? 

Uncle. It is. But in very ancient times this 
beautiful article was unknown. The skins which 
they used were rougher and coarser, like the roll 
w T hich lies on the table. 

Hilary. What is parchment ? 

Uncle. Parchment is commonly made of the 
skins of sheep or goats. The sort which is called 
vellum is very fine and delicate, and is made of 
the skins of the very youngest calves. 

Hilary. When was parchment invented? 

Uncle. The common opinion is, that it was in- 
vented by Eumenes, king of Pergamus, about two 
hundred years before Christ. Pergamus was a 
great city of Asia Minor, now called Bergamo. It 
was famous for a library of 200,000 volumes. 
Ptolemy, king of Egypt, prevented this king from 
having any papyrus, and he therefore adopted this 
sort of skin. It was called pergamena because it 
was made at Pergamus ; and parchment is de- 
rived from pergamena. Asses' skin was also useu. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 79 

likewise ivory, and even fish skins. And pernaps 
you will be amused to hear that old Cleanthes, a 
Greek philosopher, who was too poor to buy paper, 
used to write his master Zeno's lectures on shells 
and beef bones. Gibbon says that the Koran of 
Mohammed was taken down by his disciples not 
only on palm leaves, but the shoulder bones of 
mutton. But you need not reckon the shells or 
the bones. 

Ernest. Did not the ancients sometimes engrave 
letters on plates of metal 1 

Uncle. They did. The Sixth material I shall 
mention is lead. Read Job xix. 24. Montfaucon, 
a very learned man, bought at Rome, in 1669, a 
book with leaden leaves. In Greek and Latin wri- 
ters you will often find, that poems and even laws 
were engraven on very thin pieces of lead. 

Seventh. Brass or copper was also used. Dr. 
Buchanan found among the Jews of India several 
tables of brass, containing deeds for the land which 
they owned. The old Roman laws were some- 
times thus written. In 1444, seven or eight brass 
tablets with old Italian writings were dug up in 
Italy. 

Eighth. More precious metals. I have read 
that the ancient records of France were on silver 
tablets. In 1636, the Dutch received a letter in Ara- 
bic, from an East Indian prince, on tablets of gold. 



80 AN INTRODUCTION 

Ernest. But I should think that stone woul<! 
have been used much earlier. The law of Gog 
was on tables of stone. 

Uncle. Yes, you are right. In all ancient coun- 
tries we find monuments of stone, with writings 
upon them. Sometimes they cut the letters very 
deep, and filled them up with lime or cement. At 
Rome there is a book with the leaves of thin mar- 
ble. Job says, " O that my words were now writ- 
ten ! that they were printed (or graven) in a 
book ! That they were graven with an iron pen, 
and lead, in the rock forever !" Job xix. 24. 
When God called Moses up into Sinai, he said, 
" I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and 
commandments which I have written." Ex. xxiv. 
12. These were " written with the finger of 
God," (Ex. xxxi. 18,) and are the same which 
Moses cast out of his hands and broke. Ex. xxxii. 19. 
The Lord afterwards said to him " Hew thee two 
tables of stone like unto the first." Ex. xxxiv. 1. On 
these he again inscribed the law. The people also 
received a command : " It shall be on the day when 
ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the 
Lord thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee 
up great stones, and plaster them with plaster 
and thou shalt write upon them all the words of 
this law." Deut. xxvii. 1 — 8. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 81 

Ninth. Bricks. These are found among the 
ruins of Babylon. 

Tenth. Linen, cotton, and silk. Linen books 
have been found in the caves of Egypt. Livy men- 
tions the like. There is a silk book preserved in 
the Harleian library in England. And in Rome 
there is a manuscript of the prophets on silk. 

Ernest. Let me see if I can repeat the different 
things you have mentioned. 

Uncle. Begin with those made octrees ox plants. 

Ernest. Writing materials made of trees or plants 
were five : (1.) Leaves; (2.) Bark; (3.) Wood; 
(4.) Linen or cotton ; (5.) Papyrus. 

Uncle. Let Hilary mention those procured from 
animals. 

Hilary. Writing materials procured from ani- 
mals were two : (1.) Skins, or parchment, or vel- 
lum ; (2.) Silk. 

Uncle. And then those which are from the mine- 
ral world are : (1.) Metallic plates, of gold, silver, 
brass, copper, or lead ; and, (2.) Stone. And 
now we may stop, as we have discovered some- 
thing about the articles on which the ancients 
wrote. Next we shall try to find out something 
about their pens, their ink, and the fashion of their 
books 



32 AN INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER VII. 

Ancient writing and books, continued — Ancient pens — Reeds- 
Introduction of quill-pens— Roman inkstands — Ancient ink- 
Hair pencils — -Iron pens — The stylus — Waxen tablets — Man- 
ner of binding ancient books — Synagogue rolls — Rollers — 
Sealed books — Cases for books — Scribes or amanuenses. 

If the reader is not weary of this subject, he may 
find in this chapter an account of the conversation 
which uncle Austin had with his nephews, about 
the sorts of books which were used in old times. 
And this is by no means a useless kind of know- 
ledge, because it throws light on many parts of the 
Holy Scriptures. 

When the boys went, as usual, into the study, 
they found that their good uncle was ready for 
them. He was sitting near a small table, on which 
he had spread a number of drawings, and several 
curiosities which he had picked up in his travels. 

Uncle. Which of you can tell what this is, which 
I hold in my hand ? 

Hilary. It looks something like the reeds which 
I have seen in tobacco-pipes. 

Uncle. It is something of that sort, indeed. It 
is a reed for writing. The Arabs and Turks con- 
stantly write with a reed of this sort. The an- 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 83 

cients used a reed when they wrote upon skins, 
cotton, linen, or paper. 

Ernest. Had they no quills to make pens of? 

Uncle. Quills have long been used in Europe, 
but when they were first introduced I cannot teli. 
Those of geese, swans, peacocks, crows, and peli- 
cans have been employed. The first mention I 
can find of a pen, is about a. p. 636. They were 
not known, however, in very ancient times, nor by 
any of the scriptural writers. Where you find the 
word pen in the English Bible, it means either a 
rod of some kind, or a sharp instrument of metal. 
Even after pens were introduced, reeds were used 
for writing very large or ornamental letters. Here 
is a Persian manuscript, see how broad and free the 
long flourished letters are. 

Hilary. Can it be possible that this was written ! 
It is as regular as printing. 

Uncle. No printing (except lithography) can at 
ell imitate the elegance of oriental manuscripts. 
And some of the Jews' rolls in their synagogues 
are still more regular and beautiful. Here is a 
little drawing I made from a picture which was 
found in Herculaneum. These pictures are at 
least seventeen hundred years old. 

Ernest. Then they will show us exactly the 
sort of articles which were common among the old 
Romans. 



84 AN INTRODUCTION. 

Uncle. Exactly so. This is an inkstand, with 



a 



reed lying on it, ready for use. 




Hilary. The picture is precisely like the reed 
yon have in your hand. 

Uncle. The ink which was used with these 
reeds was very different from ours. Pliny describes 
various sorts. The most common was made of 
lampblack, soot, or charcoal, with water and some- 
times a little gum ; so that it was much more like 
shoe-blacking than ink. Printing ink gives you 
some idea of it. They frequently used a hair pen- 
cil to make the letters with, as the Chinese do now. 
The liquor of the sepia or black fish was used by 
the later Romans. The Hebrews, like other east- 
ern nations, used many colours besides black for 
their writing. But the Greek word for ink in the 
New Testament signifies black, and so does the 
Hebrew word in Jer. xxxvi. 18. By referring to 
the Union Bible Dictionary, art. Book, you will 
find another picture from Herculaneum. It repre- 
sents an inkhorn or standish, in which there are 
two partitions. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 85 

Ernest. And you will see also the reed, already 
cut and sharpened. 

Uncle. When they made inscriptions on stone 
or metal, it was done with a chisel or graver, 
called in the Bible a pen of iron. Sometimes 
these were sharpened with a diamond at the end, 
like the instrument which glaziers employ to cut 
glass. Job xix. 24. Jeremiah says : " The sin of 
Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the 
point of a diamond : it is graven upon the table of 
their heart." Jer. xvii. 1. Pliny mentions these 
diamond points as having been long in use. 

Hilary. How did they write on the waxed 
tablets ? 

Uncle. With a hard instrument called a stylus 
or style. This was broad at the top and pointed at 
the bottom. When they wished to rub out, they 
just turned the other end and made the wax smooth 
again. 

Hilary. Of what were the styles made ? 

Uncle. Sometimes of iron or steel; sometimes 
of wood, brass, ivory, silver, or even gold. They 
were used as daggers. Cesar drew his style and 
wounded Cassius. The emperor Claudius was so 
much in dread of being assassinated, that he would 
not let the scribes or public writers bring their 
styles into his presence. Cassianus, a Christian 
schoolmaster, was, about the year 365, murdered 
8 



86 AN INTRODUCTION 

by his pupils with their styles, by order of the 
emperor Julian. And now I think we have talked 
enough about pens and ink. 

Ernest. I am not weary, but I shall be glad to 
come to hooks. 

Uncle. I have already told you that when you 
read in Scripture of books, you must not think of 
such volumes as we now have, made of hundreds 
of leaves of paper, stitched and pasted, and bound 
and gilt. Most of the ancient books were rolls. 
The skins, parchments, linen, cotton, silk, and 
even papyrus, were thus rolled. 

Hilary. Were these rolls very large ? 

Uncle. Of various sizes, as are our books. Usually 
the roll was long, but narrow. When a very large 
book was needed, many skins were joined together. 
I have showed you a Jewish roll. I suppose the 
books of the Old Testament were on rolls of the 
same sort. When there was no room on one side 
for more, they used to write on the other. This 
explains a text in Ezekiel, (ii. 9 :) " And when I 
looked, behold a hand was sent unto me, and, lo, si 
roll of a book was therein ; and he spread it (un- 
rolled it) before me ; and it was written within 
ind without." 

Hilary. Did the Greeks and Romans use such 
rolls ? 

Uncle. They did In Herculaneum many such 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 87 

nave been found, and pictures of many more, 
which give you a better idea of ancient books 
than a talk of a whole day. By referring to an 
engraving under the article before mentioned, you 
will see how a book was held in reading. You 
will also see that the writing was sometimes 
across the roll ; just as if you took a newspaper and 
held it by the sides. Thus the book is in colamn? 
or pages, though there is but one leaf. In Jere- 
miah, (ch. xxxvi.) we read that Baruch, the prophet's 
friend, took down his words with ink in a booA 
that is, a roll. In ver. 20 it is called a roll. Jehudi 
read it aloud to the king ; and when " he had read 
two or three leaves" that is, such columns as you 
see in the cut, " the king cut it with a penknife, and 
cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until the 
roll was consumed in the fire that was on the 
hearth." ver. 23. By another engraving under 
the same article, you will see another form of 
holding the books to read them. This roll is 
narrower than the other, and far narrower than 
the Jewish rolls. 

Ernest. Did our Saviour read in the synagogue 
out of such books as this ? 

Uncle. Rather out of such a roll as I showed 
you yesterday. When he came to the synagogue 
at Nazareth, " there was delivered to him the book 
of the prophet Esaias." This was the roll which 



88 AN INTRODUCTION 

contained Isaiah's prophecy. " And wheil he had 
opened the book" or more correctly, ' when he had 
unrolled the book,' that is, to rind the proper co- 
lumn or page, he found the portion he sought. 
Having read it, " he closed the book" — he rolled 
it up again, " and gave it again to the minister, 
and sat down," and began to preach. Luke iv. 
16—20. 

Hilary. I always imagined that the writing on 
these rolls was from one end to the other of the 
long roll. 

Uncle. Some were certainly so. We have an- 
other figure from Herculaneum, which represents a 
nymph singing out of a book. You will see copied, 
under the same article in the Dictionary, the 
roll and the hands. You will see it was read 
down the roll. You can also see that it is poetry, 
and is divided into stanzas of six lines each. 

Ernest. The Jewish roll which you showed us 
yesterday is different from these in one respect. It 
has rollers of wood like those on maps. 

Uncle. Rollers are used in all the synagogue 
rolls, and the ends of these are often highly orna- 
mented with silver or gold. The ancients had the 
same contrivance. The rod or cylinder was of 
ebony, cedar, cypress, box, bone, or ivory. The 
ornamental caps at the projecting ends of the roll- 
ers were called the horns. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES 



89 



Ernest. I cannot understand what is meant by 
tue seals of books. How can a book be sealed ? 

Uncle. This is soon explained. Suppose I take 
that Hebrew roll, and wind a cord or band round 
it, and put a little sealing-wax over the knot. The 
book is then sealed. And I may seal it six or seven 
times if I choose. Let me show you this in a little 
drawing. Now you see that such a book could not 
be opened without breaking the seal. 




Hilary. And were letters sealed in the same 
way? 

Uncle. They often were ; of course the rolls 
were then smaller. Take the Bible, and turn to 
Isa. xxix. 11. 

Hilary. " And the vision of all is become unto 
you as the words of a book that is sealed, which 
men deliver to one that is learned, saying, t Read 
this, I pray thee ;' and he saith, ' I cannot, for it is 
sealed.' " 

Uncle. Read Dan. xii. 4. 

Hilary. " But thou, O Daniel, shut up the 
words, and seal the book." 
8* 



90 



AN INTRODUCTION 



Uncle. Read Rev. v. 1, and vi. 1. 

Hilary. " And I saw in the right hand of him 
that sat on the throne a book, written within 
and on the back side, sealed with seven seals " 
" And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the 
seals." 

Uncle. The roll was full, inside and outside, 
and was fastened with seals which no one could 
open. 

Ernest. But were all the ancient books in this 
form ? 

Uncle. No.. I have already told you that some 
of them, but more rarely, resembled ours Here is 
another drawing from Herculaneum. 




TO THE SCRIPTURES. 



91 



Ernest. I suppose they did not put rolls up on 
shelves as we do. 

Uncle. No. They had various cases to keep 
them in. Some of these were more like pails or 
casks than book-cases. See here ; this cut repre- 
sents an ancient Roman scrinium, or book-case. 




Th*; little labels at the top of the volumes contain 
me titles. 

Ernest. Do you suppose the epistles of Paul 
and the other apostles were written on rolls ? 

Uncle. I have no doubt they were on rolls of 
papyrus or parchment. The ancients had scribes 



92 AN INTRODUCTION 

who wrote their letters. The person sending the let 
ter, dictated, that is, told the secretary what to write 
The Romans called such a scribe an amanuensis, 

Ernest. Did not Paul write his epistles with his 
own hand ? 

Uncle. Not commonly. When he did so, he 
mentions it as remarkable. Thus he says to the 
Galatians : "Ye see how large a letter I have writ- 
ten unto you with mine oivn hand. 9 ' Gal. vi. 11. 

Hilary. How did they know then that such let- 
ters were not forged ? 

Uncle. Paul always added his name, or some 
salutation in his own writing. " The salutation 
of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token 
in every epistle." 2 Thess. iii. 17. " The salu- 
tation of me Paul with mine own hand." 1 Cor. 
xvi. 21. And when he wrote a letter to the Ro- 
mans, his secretary Tertius adds a kind salutation: 
" I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in 
the Lord." Rom. xvi. 22. In the Old Testament, 
we rind that Queen Jezebel " wrote letters in Ahab's 
name, and sealed them with his seal." 1 Kings 
xxi. 8. At the present day the letters of the ori- 
entals are oftener tied than sealed ; and their books 
are not commonly rolled, but made like ours. But 
when a letter is sent to a great man, it is bound 
in various costly envelopes, and sealed with great 
care. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 93 

All this I hope will give you a better idea of the 
books of Scripture than you had before. You per- 
ceive that when any one had the whole Bible, he 
had it often in a great number of little rolls. And 
many had only a few of these. Let us bless God 
thai we have the whole, in a portable volume. 



94 AN INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Ancient Bibles — Of the copying of books — Ornamental writing 
and illumination — Church bibles — Cost of ancient books- 
Ornamented covers — Value of books in the middle ages — ■ 
Translations of the Bible — The Septuagint — The Vulgate— 
Other versions — Into Anglo-Saxon — Into English — Wiclif 's 
New Testament — Tindal's Bible — Love of English Christians 
for the Scriptures — The Bishop's Bible — Collections of trans- 
lations. 

Every day that Ernest and Hilary spent with 
their affectionate uncle, they learned something 
new concerning the Holy Scriptures. They were 
so much gratified with his conversations, that they 
no longer needed to be called, but went every morn- 
ing into his study without an invitation. And he 
was equally pleased to receive them, for he had no 
greater pleasure than to communicate useful know- 
ledge to his young relations. 

When he saw them coming in the next day, he 
began as follows : 

I have already told you, my dear nephews, tha* 
the books of the Bible weie not all written at the; 
same time. The Old Testament books are sup- 
posed to have been collected and arranged by Ezra 
And after that time, they were preserved by the 
Jews with the greatest care. They took all possi 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 95 

ble measures to keep them from being altered in a 
single letter. It was a long time before the New 
Testament books were collected in the same way. 
For many years they were circulating through dif- 
ferent parts of the world, as separate volumes ; and 
there were comparatively few persons who pos- 
sessed the whole Scriptures. At length the whole 
were gathered, and acknowledged by all the church 
as the genuine Scriptures. 

Hilary. As they did not know how to print, I 
suppose every one had to copy off the whole book 
for himself. 

Uncle. Some persons did so. But copying was 
a regular trade in those days, just as printing is 
now. And there were men who spent their whole 
lives in copying, and who could write with a beauty 
and regularity which are unknown at the present 
day. 

Hilary. How long did this continue to be the 
case ? 

Uncle. Until the invention of printing in the 
fifteenth century. Multitudes of monks in monas- 
teries used to spend their lives in transcribing manu- 
scripts. In the abbey of Marmoutier, the most 
undent that now remains in France, the monks 
lived in separate cells. No art or business was 
permitted among them except that of writing. 
Fifty- eight volumes were copied in Glastonbury 



96 AN INTRODUCTION 

in England, during the government of one abbot 
about a. d. 1300. This was the chief employment 
of the Carthusian monks. 

Ernest. How long it must have taken to write 
off the whole Bible ! 

Uncle. It was tedious indeed ; and this made books 
exceedingly dear. Besides this, many of these an- 
cient manuscripts were highly adorned. Some were 
written in letters of purple, silver, or gold. Some 
were ornamented with pictures around the princi- 
pal capital letters, which were called illuminations. 
I have seen many thus embellished. There is in 
the Vienna library a copy of Genesis and of Luke, 
about fourteen hundred years old. It is on purple 
vellum, in letters of gold and silver. 

Ernest. Were there Bibles in all the ancient 
churches ? 

Uncle* There were ; at least until the Romish 
church forbade the reading of the Scriptures. Bibles 
were placed in convenient places, within the church 
walls, that the common people might come and 
read when they chose. 

Ernest. This was very well when books were 
so expensive. 

Uncle. The cost of books was greater than you 
would suppose. A single anecdote will show this. 
In the fourth century a monk named Hilarion went 
in a ship from Lybia to Sicily. When he arrived 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 97 

at nis- port, he offered to pay for his passage and 
that of his companion, with a copy of the gospels 
which he had written in his youth. The captain, 
seeing they had nothing else, allowed them to go 
free. 

Sometimes the elegance of the cover or binding 
made them more costly. Ina, king of the West 
Saxons, gave to the church at Glastonbury, for the 
" coverings of the books of the gospels," twenty 
pounds and sixty pieces of gold. In 1430, an 
English abbot paid for the binding of a single book 
three pounds ; and you must remember, that a 
pound at that time would buy four cows or three 
horses ; so that he laid out the value of nine horses 
on the cover of his book ! It is just as if I should 
give four or five hundred dollars for binding a 
volume. In the reign of Henry II. the sheriffs of 
London paid, by the king's order, twenty-two shil- 
lings for gold to gild the gospel used in the king's 
chapel. 

Hilary. I feel glad that we live when books are 
cheaper. 

Uncle. Yes, my son, we should be truly thank- 
ful that we are so favoured. In 609, Alfred, king 
of Northumberland, gave eight hundred acres of 
.and for the History of the World And the same 
man who paid three pounds for covering his book, 
paid five pounds for the copying of it. In the 
9 



98 AN INTRODUCTION 

tentn century books were so scarce in Spain, that 
the same volumes used to serve for several mo- 
nasteries. And a single copy of the Bible, and 
a few other books, not more than sixteen, were so 
important a legacy, that it was witnessed by the 
king, queen, and several bishops. Prayers used 
to be said, after the manner of that ignorant age, for 
the souls of such as had given books to a monas- 
tery. These books were most carefully kept, and 
when, as a great favour, they were lent, it was 
regularly certified in a legal writing. 

Ernest. But did books continue to be so dear, 
even in England ? 

Uncle. Even after the Reformation began to 
dawn, books were scarce. Wiclifs Translation 
of the New Testament cost more than a poor man 
could pay. In 1424, a Mass Booh was sold for 
Jive marks, (£3 6s. 8d.,) or nearly fifteen dollars, 
equal to the salary of a curate for a year. When 
printing was invented, nothing used to surprise the 
people so much as that a Bible could be bought for 
forty crowns. In 1521, when many poor people in 
Lincolnshire were burned by the papists, I read that 
one John Collins paid for a printed Bible twenty 
shillings, or less than five dollars ; being then as 
much as the wages of a master carpenter for forty 
days, or the price of four hundred and eighty 
pounds of beef. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 99 

A.S I said before, you see how thankful we ought 
to be that we live at a time, and in a country, 
where every one can have the sacred Scriptures 
and especially that we can have them translated 
into our own language. 

Ernest. I should like to hear something about 
the translations of the Bible. 

Uncle. The earliest translation of which we 
have any certain account, is what is called the Sep- 
tuagint. It is so called because it was made by 
about seventy Jews, and septuaginta is the Latin 
for seventy. It was in Greek, and was made by 
order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, 
who was a great collector of books. This was 
made about two hundred and fifty years before 
Christ. It was this version which was used by the 
early Christians. 

Hilary. Was not the Bible translated into 
Latin ? 

Uncle. It was ; several times. The only Latin 
version, however, which I think necessary to men- 
tion, is the Vulgate, which is considered the stand- 
ard by the Romish church. The word vulgate 
means common. It was made towards the close 
of the fourth century, by Jerome, a celebrated 
father of the church. 

Ernest. Was the Bible translated into many 
other languages ? 



100 AN INTRODUCTION. 

Uncle. Yes, it was natural for this to happen. 
Whenever Christianity came into a new country 
the people would wish to have the Bible in their 
mother tongue. The wicked and impious practice 
of withholding the Scriptures from the people had 
not yet begun. Pious missionaries laboured to 
multiply translations, and many of these are still in 
existence. 

Hilary. Were there any translations into Eng- 
lish? 

Uncle. You must know that the English lan- 
guage is formed out of one called the Anglo- 
Saxon, or Saxon, which was spoken in England 
some centuries ago. The first translation of which 
I have read was by Adhelm, Bishop of Sherborne, 
about the year 706. He translated the Psalms into 
Saxon. The four gospels were translated by Eg- 
bert, another bishop, who died a. d. 721. The 
whole Bible was translated by the venerable Bede, 
a few years after. About two hundred years later, 
King Alfred made a new translation of the Psalms. 
And Elfric, Archbishop of Canterbury, about a. ©. 
995, translated a large portion of the Bible. 

Ernest. You say these were Saxon ; but when 
was the first English translation made ? 

Uncle. About a. d. 1290, by an unknown author. 
Towards the end of the fourteenth century, that is 
about 1380, the g^eat John Wiclif, who is some- 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 101 

times called the " Morning-star of the Reformat 
Uon," translated the whole New Testament into 
English. This was very offensive to the papists, 
and some persons endeavoured to get it suppressed 
by the parliament, but without success. But for 
a long time afterwards, many thousands were per- 
secuted and slain for reading this book. 

Hilary. Was the English of those people the 
same which we speak now ? 

Uncle. Let me give you a specimen, I will 
let you read several verses out of Wiclifs New 
Testament, which I have here : 

3aoto mg soule is troufilOr, attir tohat 
schal X sege, iuXtiv y saue me fro tixiB our : 
hut therefor X earn into thfs our. if afcfr, 
clartffe thf name, ^uir a bote cam fro 
fteueue ani* sefte, mttr X haue clarffteir, 
uv& eft X schal clarfffe* (John xh. 27, 28.) 

jf or fit alle thgitges she fiett maafc rfche 
fit Jifni fit eefi iDorir anif fit ech tumttgitcj 
ub the teftttessgitfl of <£rfst fs cottffrmefc 
fit Qhou, bo that no thgttfl fall fu flhou fit 
ottg grate that ahf&eit the schetoutfl of 
our Sort* Jhesus erfgt (1 Cor. i. 5—7.) 

£ So thattfegttflfs to ma fiSotr fit alle 
mgtt^e of shou euermore fit all mg 
preferfs for ghou alle iafth fofe, aitfc titafte 
9* 



102 AN INTRODUCTION 

a hisuMriQ on ghoure comgusttfi ftt tltfs 
gospel of (tvist fro the tivstt irafe til 

nOto. (Phil. i. 4, 5.) 

Xtomamrtie to thee before ©oft that 
quiciteueth alle thgugfe attir fcffore ®rist 
Jesu that gheM&e a toftuessBttg uvtotv 
J^tlat of ^oimce a sooir confessfotm, that 
thou ftepe the eomautrtmteut totthout 
ojemme toithout repreef into the comgng 
of oure ffiortr Jesu Crist, tohom the 
tltBBta an* alootte mgghti itgus of 
fegttQfs, anir sort* of lorirfs schal scheto 
in Mb tgmes- (i Tim. vi. 13—15.) 

Hilary. O, I can scarcely understand a word of it. 

Ernest* When was the first English Bible 
printed ? 

Uncle. The first Bible printed was the transla- 
tion by William Tindal. He went to Antwerp 
in Flanders, and there finished his translation of 
the whole Bible. He was assisted by John Fry, 
or Fryth, and William Joy $ the former of whom 
was burned at the stake by the papists in 1533, and 
Ihe latter suffered in the same way in Portugal. 
The first edition of the New Testament was bought 
up by the popish bishop of London, and burned, 
But with the money paid for this, others were 
printed. Those who were suspected of importing 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 103 

these books into England, were condemned, by Sir 
Thomas More, to ride with their faces to the tails 
of their horses, and to throw the books publicly 
into a fire. Many thousands were, however, circu- 
lated. Multitudes learned to read. Many used to 
travel far, and sit up all night in barns or sheds, 
hearing the word read, and thus committing it to 
memory. Tindal himself suffered martyrdom in 
1536, near Brussels, having been seized by order 
of King Henry VIII. He died praying, "Lord, 
open the King of England's eyes." 

Ernest. You have given us a specimen of Wic- 
lifs translation: will you please to give us a 
specimen of TindaVs ? 

Uncle. With pleasure. You must remember 
that, in that day, books were printed in what is 
called Black Letter or Old English. Here it is. 

Matthew, chap. v. 

Wt haue herire, hoto ft fs sagire: thou 
shalt lobe thgtte ueahhoure, uv& hate 
thfue enemg* But X sage unto gou : loue 
goure euemfes; Blesse them that curse 
gou; Bo floofc to them that hate gou* 
Prage (or them tohfch fco gou torons uvlQ 
persecute gou, that ge titag fie the chf Urrett 
of goure father tohfch fs in heabeu; for 
he mafteth hfs souue to argse on the euel 



104 AN INTRODUCTION 

mtt on the sooir, an* stvfttth fits rargue on 
the just mrti unjust jfor gf ge low 
than iuhftii loue gou, tofuit refomrto 
shall ge haue? 20o not tlve ^ntlituxtu 
turn so ? 

This was an excellent translation. In many 
parts of it, Tindal was helped by Miles Coverdale 
The whole Bible, when it was published in 1535, 
was dedicated to the pious young King Edward VI., 
who was a friend to the Reformation. It was the 
first English Bible issued by royal authority. It 
was ordered that one of them should be in every 
church. John Rogers, the first martyr in Queen 
Mary's reign, was apprehended for having been 
concerned in this publication. 

Hilary. I dare say the good Protestants were 
glad to have this book. 

Uncle. They were so, indeed, as you will see 
by an anecdote which I will tell you.* 

It was wonderful, says a historian, to see with 
what joy this book was received, not only among 
the more learned sort, but all over England, among 
all the common people. Everybody who was 
able bought the book, or busily read it, or got 
others to read it aloud. Many elderly people 

* Strype, Mem. I. b. i. c. 17. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 105 

learned to read on purpose. Even little boys 
flocked among the rest to hear portions read. 

There was a lad named William Maldon who 
lived at Chelmsford, in Essex. Several poor men 
of this town bought the New Testament, and on 
Sundays they used to sit and read it at the lower 
end of the church. Many people used to collect 
to hear, and among the rest, William, who was 
then fifteen years old. His father took notice of 
this, and one day came in a passion, and took him 
away, to say his Latin prayers. This grieved him 
very much. As often as he used to return to hear 
the reading, his father used to take him away. 
This made him desire to learn "to read for himself; 
and he succeeded. He and an apprentice of his 
father's laid their money together, and bought a 
New Testament. They hid it under the bed-straw. 
One night, while his father was asleep, he and his 
mother were talking about worshipping the crucifix, 
and William said it was idolatry. His mother in- 
formed upon him, and his father flew into a rage, 
arose from his bed, pulled William by the hah of 
his head, and whipped him unmercifully. Many 
years after, William told good Mr Fox, that he 
oore this beating without a tear, and even with joy, 
because it was for Christ's sake. This enraged 
his father still more, so that he ran down and 
brought a halter, and put it round his neck, threat- 



106 AN INTRODUCTION 

ening to hang him. At length, by his mother's en- 
treaties, the cruel father ceased, leaving him almost 
dead. There are many such anecdotes in a book 
called " Fox's Acts and Monuments." I could 
tell you of several other translations and editions, 
but none of them are so important as the Bishops 
Bible. 

Ernest. When was this printed ? 

Uncle. In 1568. It was proposed by Arch- 
bishop Parker, and by authority of the crown. 
He divided the whole Bible into fifteen portions, 
and gave these to fifteen learned men, for each of 
them to translate his part. It was furnished with 
maps, plates, and some notes. 

Ernest. Why was it called the Bishops' Bible ? 

Uncle. Because eight of the fifteen learned men 
who translated it were bishops. In 1571, it was 
ordered that one of these should be in every church. 

Hilary. If there were as many translations of 
the Bible in other countries as there were in Eng- 
land, they would make a large library of them- 
selves. 

Uncle. Some persons have endeavoured to 
make such a collection. In 1768, Charles, Duke 
of Wurtemburg, began a great library, and among 
other things, he collected all the different editions 
of the Bible he could find, in every language. The 
whole number of Bibles, in 1804, was nine thou- 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 107 

sand, and he still wanted three thousand more to 
complete the collection. 

But, my dear boys, I must not keep you here 
any longer, for it is time that you were at your 
exercises out of doors. To-morrow I am to give 
you the history of the English Bible which we 
aow use. 



108 AN INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER IX. 

The authorized English version — Extent of its influence — His* 
tory— -King James the First — Authors of this translation — 
Occasion of their undertaking the work — Account of its pro 
gress — Manner of dividing the labour — Their great care in 
comparing and correcting — The learning of these translators — 
Revision of the whole — Printing of the English Bible — List 
of translators' names. 

I have said that ancle Austin had a great collec- 
tion of valuable books. Among them, there were 
several ancient English Bibles. One of these, a 
folio volume, lay upon his table when the boys 
entered for their morning entertainment. As the 
old gentleman saw his nephews coming, he laid his 
finger on the book, and said : 

" Here, my boys, is the best translation ever 
made of the Bible." 

Hilary. Which is that, dear uncle ? 

Uncle. It is oar common English Bible, but it 
goes by various names. Sometimes it is called 
simply, The English Version, because it is the 
latest and best of the Bibles in our language, 
Sometimes it is called The authorized Version, 
because it was published by the authority of the 
government, and because the use of it is en- 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 109 

joined by many churches. Sometimes it is 
called King James's Version, because it was 
made by his order. We may also call it the Com- 
mon Version or Translation, And whatever we 
call it, we must acknowledge that it is one of the 
greatest blessings which God has ever conferred 
on any land or nation. 

Ernest. It seems to me, uncle, as if it was given 
to a great many lands and nations. 

Hilary. How so, Ernest ? 

Ernest. Because it is in English, and English 
is spoken in many different countries. 

Uncle. You are right, Ernest, and your ex- 
pression is more just than mine. The English 
Version is a gift of God to many millions. If none 
were to read it but the inhabitants of the single 
island of Great Britain, it would be a great thing ; 
for there are, in that island alone, more than sixteen 
millions of souls. Then there are more than seven 
millions in Ireland. So you see there are more 
than twenty-four millions of people in these two 
islands ; and among all of these the Bible may be 
carried, but we must add many more. 

Ernest. Yes, because here in America we all 
talk English. 

Hilary. Not all, for there are a good many 
Germans, and Frenchmen, and Spaniards. 

Uncle Ernest's remark is true in the general. 
10 



1 10 AN INTRODUCTION 

In the United States, there is not one in a thousand 
who does not understand English. Now what is 
the population of the United States ? 

Ernest and Hilary. More than twelve millions. 

Uncle. Then you must add, all the people in the 
East 2nd West Indies who speak English, and all 
those in British America, and the south of Africa, 
Every day we live, our language is gaining ground 
in the world, and it seems plain that Providence 
has ordered this to be so, that the saving know- 
ledge which abounds in English books might be 
spread all over the world. But now for the book 
itself. Look here, and read this title-page. 

Ernest. The spelling looks old-fashioned, but 
I believe I can read it. 

" The Holy Bible, conteyning the Old Testa- 
ment and the New, newly translated out of the 
Originall Tongues, and with the former Trans- 
lations diligently compared and revised by his 
Majesties special Comandment. Imprinted at 
London, by Robert Barker, Printer to the King's 
most excellent Majestic 1611." 

Hilary. Pray what is that mark over the m in 
the word commandment? 

Uncle, I think you might guess ; it is to make 
up for one of the m's which is left out. It was 
used by the old scriveners to save room, and is very 
common in ancient Latin books. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 11] 

Hilary. What is meant by the King's most 
excellent majesty ? 

Uncle. It is a common term in monarchies for 
the monarch himself: here it means King James 1. 
What do you know about him ? 

Ernest. He was the first of the house of Stuart 
that reigned in England. The Scottish and Eng- 
lish crowns were united in him. He came to the 
English throne in 1603, and died in 1625. He 
was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots. 

Hilary. James I. was a weak man, but had a 
great deal of knowledge. He was always trying 
to show his learning. He was also disposed to be 
a tyrant. We have learned a great deal more 
about him at school. 

Uncle. That is sufficient. You may now see the 
advantage of knowing a little history What you 
say of James is true ; yet, after all, he did some 
very good things ; and the best of these was the 
version before your eyes. 

Ernest. But, sir, did the king make it himself? 

Uncle. Not exactly, but he caused it to be done. 
And I am now about to tell you the way in which 
this came about. When James ascended the 
throne, he found there were great disputes and dif- 
ferences among his new subjects about church 
government and doctrines. Most of the people 
were fond of episcopacy, tut some who were 



112 AN INTRODUCTION 

called Puritans, were opposed to it These Puri- 
tans begged the king to allow a conference, or 
meeting, at which the chief men of the two sides 
might argue the matter in a friendly way. He 
consented to this, and appointed a conference ,, 
which took place at Hampton Court, in 1604. 
The king presided as moderator. Dr. John Ray- 
nolds, or Reynolds, was the chief speaker of the 
Puritans, and petitioned for a new translation of the 
Bible. He gave some instances to show that the 
previous translations were faulty. 

Ernest* What did the king say to this ? 

Uncle. He agreed that there ought to be a new 
version, made by the most learned men, which 
should be used by every one : because there was 
great confusion arising from the variety of Bibles 
in use. And accordingly, in 1604, he appointed 
nfty-four learned men, and commanded them to set 
about the work of making a new translation. 

Ernest. Did they all come together to do it ? 

Uncle. No. Indeed only forty-seven actually 
went through with the work. The other seven 
either declined the task, or were removed by 
death. These forty-seven were distributed among 
three cities, Westminster, Oxford, and Cam- 
bridge. 

Ernest. Is Westminster a city? 

Uncle. It i? ; though it is now considered as 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 113 

a part o** London. Taken together with South- 
wark, they make up the great metropolis of Great 
Britain. You know that the other two cities are 
those in which the two famous universities are. It 
was very natural to suppose that the greatest num- 
ber of learned men would be in these three places. 
But I was about to answer Ernest's question, thus : 
The translators were divided into six sets or classes. 
These sets were called companies. 

Ernest. That makes just two for each of the 
three places. 

Uncle. It does. There were two companies at 
Westminster, two at Cambridge, and two at Ox- 
ford. Of the translators, seventeen were at West- 
minster, fifteen at Cambridge, and fifteen at Oxford. 
Each company worked by itself, and each had a 
particular part of the work assigned to it. You 
must remember that they included the apocryphal 
books. 

Ernest. I should like to understand how they 
managed this difficult business. 

Uncle. I will try to make it clear to you. Ee- 
member there were six companies, and in each 
company seven or eight individuals. Now let us 
take a single company, and see how it proceeded. 
We will say, for example, the first of the Oxford 
companies. This contained seven individuals. To 
this company were assigned the major and minor 
10* 



114 AN INTRODUCTION 

prophets. Now each of these seven persons stu 
died his portion at home by himself. Then he 
wrote the best translation he could of certain chap- 
ters agreed upon. Then, on a certain day, all the 
seven met together, each one bringing the transla- 
tion he had made. Here they compared their ver- 
sions, discussed difficulties, and talked the matter 
over, until they had agreed on some translation. 
When they had got through with all the prophets, 
they had their work transcribed, and sent a copy 
to each of the other five companies. 

Ernest. But what if their translation did not 
please the other companies ? 

Uncle. This must have happened frequently 
and provision was made by the king for such dis- 
agreement. As soon as a version was brought to 
a company for examination, all the members met. 
One read the new translation, and each of the 
others held in his hand some Bible, in Hebrew, 
Greek, French, Italian, <fcc. If no one said any 
thing, the translation was accepted. But when any 
one was dissatisfied, he spoke out and mentioned 
it. If the company thought the translation wrong, 
they marked the error, and sent back an account of 
it to those who had made the version. And it was 
changed or not, according to the final judgment of 
the whole. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 115 

Hilary. Was there ever any general meeting of 
the whole forty-seven ? 

Uncle. I am unable to discover whether all of 
them ever convened. The king's rule however 
was, that differences were to be settled " at the 
general meeting, which is to be of the chief per* 
sons of each company, at the end of the work."* 

There was another rule, that in very difficult 
questions, they might get the help of any other 
learned men. And every bishop in England was 
commanded to inform all his clergy that the Bible 
was translating, and to request the use of such 
critical notes as any of them might have made. 

Ernest. Surely the version ought to be good, 
for 1 cannot think how a better method could have 
been used. 

Uncle. The plan was wise, and the result is 
blessed. 

Ernest. I have heard people say that our trans- 
lation was made in an ignorant age. 

Uncle. If they meant that it was made by igno- 
rant men, they spoke either falsely or ignorantly. 
I suppose there were never united in any one lite- 
rary labour, an equal number of men, possessing an 
equal amount of learning. True, there are some 

* Rule 10. See these rules n Todd's Vindication, 9— Vi 
Home. iii. 248. 



116 AN INTRODUCTION 

things better understood in our day, but there were 
also scholars in that day far superior to most now 
living.* Thirteen of the number were heads (or 
presidents) of colleges. Six were bishops. Among 
these was Abbot, afterwards Archbishop of Canter* 
bury. A number of them were selected for their won- 
derful knowledge of the oriental languages. One of 
them. Dr. Lay field, was chosen on account of his 
great skill in architecture, and his judgment was 
much relied upon in what relates to the tabernacle 
and temple. Master Edward Lively, as he was 
called, was the greatest orientalist among them, but 
he died before the work was done. 

Ernest. How long did it take them to make this 
version ? 

Uncle. It was begun in 1607, and it was com- 
pleted in 1610. It took them, therefore, almost 
three years. When the whole was finished, three 
copies were sent to London ; that is, one copy from 
each of the three cities. 

Hilary. Then, I suppose, the king had it printed 
"mmediately. 

Uncle. Not immediately. His plan was too 
wise to allow him to hurry matters. Six men 
were appointed to revise the whole, two from the 

* See the lives of these eminently learned men in Town 
ley's Illustrations, iii. p. 290, seq. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 117 

joint-company of each city. They met daily in 
the Stationers' Hall, London. They finished their 
part of the work in nine months. And to conclude, 
the whole was finally revised by Dr. Smith, after 
wards Bishop of Gloucester. It is he who wrote 
the preface found in the old editions.* 

Ernest. I cannot help feeling a great respect for 
this old volume. According to what you say, this 
was printed the very year after the work was done. 

Uncle. It was. There are copies which have 
on the title-page, 1612 and 1613. 

Hilary. It must have been received with great 
joy by all the pious people in England. 

Uncle. It was indeed a joyful day ; yet not so 
much so as when the other translations appeared ; 
for the people had several versions already, espe- 
cially the Bishops' Bible. And whatever faults 
there may have been in these, they were, in the 
main, correct. You have heard it said, with truth, 
that the very worst translation contains enough to 
save the soul. 

The Bishops' Bible was a great blessing. It 
ought not to be forgotten. The work of these 
great translators would have been immensely more 
difficult, if they had not possessed such a previous 
version. And the very first rule which King 

* It may be seen in Bagaxr's Comprehensive Bible. 



118 AN INTRODUCTION 

James laid down for them, was, that tVj Bishops' 

Bible was to be followed, and altered as little as 

the original would permit. This is tlt« reason 

* why many of the proper names are &U hugely written. 

Hilary, My mother has a Prayer Book, such 
as is used in the church of England ; and the 
Psalms of David in it are very different fiom 
what they are in our Bibles. 

Uncle. True. When our authorized veiaion 
was published, the Prayer Book had been aheady 
compiled. The Psalms, and the Epistles and 
Gospels in the Common Prayer were from old 
versions. The Epistles and Gospels were from the 
Bishops' Bible ; but in 1661, they were exchanged 
for the new version. But the Psalms were accord- 
ing to the translation of Cranmer's Bible, and so 
they remain to this day. But however the trans- 
lators may have been indebted to those who pre- 
ceded them, they have laid the church of Christ 
under a special obligation. As old Fuller says : 
" These, with Jacob, rolled away the stone from the 
mouth of the well of life ; so that now even Rachel's 
weak women may freely come, both to drink them- 
selves, and water the flocks of their families at the 
same."* 

Ernest. I should be obliged to you, uncle, if 

* Fuller's Church History, c x. p. 68. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 



.19 



you would give me, on a piece of paper, the names 
of these translators. 

Uncle. With pleasure. The thought is a good 
one. You may then find out at your leisure who 
they all were. Wait a few minutes, and I will 
copy them out of good old Fuller. And you shall 
have them in their companies, and the parts which 
they translated. 

I. The first Westminster Company. 10. 

Dr. Lancelot Andrews, 

Dr. John Overall, 



The five books 
of Moses, and 
onward through 
second Kings. 



Dr. Adrian a, Saravia, 

Dr. John Layfield, 

Dr. Tighe,* 

Mr. Burleigh, 

Mr. King, 

Mr. Thompson, 

Mr. Bedwell. 

II. The first Cambridge Company. 8. 
Mr. Edward Lively, 



Dr. Richardson, 
Dr. Chaderton, 
Mr. Dillingham, 
Mr. Harrison, 
Mr. Andrews, 
Mr. Spalding, 
Mr. Bing. 



The remain- 
ing historical 
books, with Job, 
> Psalms, Pro- 
verbs, Canti- 
cles, and Eccle- 
siastes. 



Not Leigh, as in some lists. 



120 



AN INTRODUCTION 



III. The first Oxford Company. 7. 



Dr* Harding, 
Dr. Reynolds, 
Dr. Holland, 
Dr. Kilby, 
Dr. Miles Smith, 
Mr. Brett, 
Mr. Fairclome. 



The Prophets, 
and the Lament- 
ations of Jere- 
miah. 



Cambridge Company. 7. 



IV. The second 
Dr. Duport, 
Dr. Branthhwait 
Dr. RadclifFe, 

Mr. Ward, (of Emanuel College,) 
Mr. Ward, (of King's College,) 
Mr. Downes, 
Mr. Boyse. 

V. The second Oxford Company. 8 



The Prayer of 
Manasses, and 
rest of Apocry- 
pha. 



Dr. Thomas Ravis, 

Dr. George Abbot, 

Dr. Edes, 

Dr. Giles Thompson, 

Mr. Saville, 

Dr. Peryn, 

Dr. Ravens, 

Mr. John Harmar. 



The Gospels, 
> Acts, and Re 
velation. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 



121 



VI The second Westminster Company. 7. 
Dr. William Barlow, 
Dr. Hutchinson, 
Dr. Spencer, 
Mr. Fenton, V The Epistles. 

Mr. Rabbett, 
Mr. Sanderson, 
Mr. Dakins. 



122 AN INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER X. 

Names of Scripture books — -Double names — Apocalypse — Books 
of Samuel and Kings — The Preacher — Canticles — Divisions 
of the Bible continued — Lesser divisions — Chapters, para- 
graphs, and verses — History of the division into chapters- 
Jewish divisions — Concordances — Sancto Caro — History of 
the division into verses — Henry Stephens — Advantages and 
disadvantages of these divisions. 

The day after that in which uncle Austin gave 
his account of the English Bible was exceedingly 
cold. There had been a great snow during the 
night, and the strong wind had blown it into high 
banks, so that in many places the fences were en- 
tirely covered up. This made the good old gentle- 
man feel some anxiety about his sheep, lest some 
of them should have been buried in the snow-drifts ; 
a thing which often happens in hard winters. He 
therefore went out, immediately after breakfast, to 
attend to the poor animals, remembering the words of 
Scripture, A righteous man regardeth the life of his 
beast.* This employed him for more than an hour, 
and during his absence the boys amused themselves 
with the various books and maps which lay upon 
his table. When uncle Austin came in again, he 

* Prov. xii. 10. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 123 

k mi k dirt and Hilary engaged in a little debate 
a! mt Jbo meaning of a word which trey had met 
with m ihr-h reading. It was the word Apocalypse 

Uncle. O, my boys, the word Apocalypse is 
only another name for the last book in the Bible. 
Apocalypse is the Greek for Revelation. 

Hilary. Why, sir, have any of the books more 
than one name ? 

Uncle. Yes, my son, there are several variations 
of this kind. In different languages, of course, the 
names differ very much ; and even in our own lan- 
guage we often call the same book by two names. 
Just turn over the leaves of that large Oxford Bible ; 
look at the titles of the several books, and I think 
you will discover what I mean. 

Ernest. Yes. I think I have already found a 
place of the sort you mean. The First Book of 
Samuel, otherwise called The First Book of the 
Kings. 

Uncle. Exactly so. You will find the same 
thing in the second book of Samuel. And if yoti 
look farther, at the beginning of what we commonly 
call First Kings, you will see a similar difference. 

Ernest. I do. The First Book of the Kings, 
commonly called The Third Book of the Kings. 

Hilary. Yes ; but, uncle, it seems to me that this 
book is not commonly called The Third Book of 
the Kings. Do we not commonly say First Sa~ 



124 AN INTRODUCTION 

muel — Second Samuel — and then First Kingfr— 
Second Kings ? 

Uncle. We do so now-a-days. But two hun- 
dred years ago, when our translation was first used, 
everybody counted four books of Kings, and this 
was the third. I will tell you the reason of this. 
You remember I spoke to you of the famous Latin 
translation, called the Vulgate.* This was used, 
and is to this day used, among Roman Catholics. 
After the Reformation, the same names of the books 
which people had learned from the Vulgate were 
very naturally used ; making a little alteration in 
the Latin names, so as to change them into 
English. In this way we borrow from the Latin 
the very names which they borrowed from the 
Greek. 

Hilary. I have found another double title — Fc- 
clesiastes, or the Preacher. 

Uncle. Yes, that is a good instance. The He- 
brew name of this book of Solomon is Kokeleth. 
This word means The Preacher. The Greeks 
turned it into Fcclesiastes, which means the same 
thing. The Latins borrowed this from the Greek 
and the English borrowed it from the Latin. 

Erntst. Are any more of the books known by 
two names ? 

* See p. 99. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES 125 

Uncle. Yes, the very next book, which is The 
Song of Solomon, is often called the Canticles. 

Ernest. Is Canticles also a Greek word 1 

Uncle. No. It is an English word, derived from 
the Latin. In the Vulgate this book is called Can- 
ticum Canticorum, or the Song of Songs. Read 
the first verse of it in that Bible, and you will find 
the very expression. From all this you will see 
that the names of the various books have often been 
changed. At the present time, the Germans, in- 
stead of saying Goiesis, Exodus, &c, say First 
Book of Moses, Second Book of Moses, &c. But 
I think we have now been long enough upon the 
names, for I wish to go to something more inte- 
resting. 

Ernest. There is one question I should like to 
ask before you go any further. Are the books of 
Scripture always arranged in the same order ? 

Uncle. Not exactly. The Hebrew differs from 
the Greek. And in our version we chiefly follow 
the arrangement of the Septuagint, or Greek trans- 
lation. In the Hebrew Bible, the books are arrang 
ed like ours as far as second Kings. Then come 
the whole of the Prophets, except Daniel, and the 
remaining books follow in this order : Psalms, 
Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamenta- 
tions, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehe- 
miah, Chronicles. 

11* 



126 AN INTRODUCTION 

I wish now to speak to you of the divisions of 
the Bible. And let me ask you this question. 
Into how many different pai*ts or portions is the 
Bible divided ? Ernest, lay that large Bible before 
you, and give me an answer. 

Ernest. That is easily answered. The Bible is 
divided into two great portions — the Old Testament 
and the New Testament. 

Uncle. Very well. Now tell me some smaller 
division. 

Ernest. Each Testament is divided into books. 

Uncle. Very well, again. Here we have a se- 
cond division, into books. Go on. 

Ernest. Each book is divided into chapters. 

Hilary. Wait a moment, brother. Some of the 
little books are not divided into chapters at all. 

Uncle. I am pleased to see you on the alert. 
There are some books, such as Obadiah. Phile- 
mon, second and third epistles of John, and the 
epistle of Jude, which are not broken into chap- 
ters. Still it is correct to say in a general way 
that each book is divided into chapters. Proceed, 
Ernest. 

Ernest. Each chapter is divided into verses* 
A.nd this is the smallest division of all. 

Uncle. True. But you have not observed a 
division which comes between the chapters and the 
verses. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 127 

Ernest, I cannot imagine what that is. I see 
no other division. 

Hilary. Nor do I. 

Uncle. Open your Bible again. Look at the 
first chapter of Genesis. After the number which 
marks the sixth verse, do you not observe a mark 
like an inverted P 1 

Ernest. O yes, sir ! That is called a paragraph 

Uncle. Very true. And this mark (^f) denotes 
the beginning of a new paragraph or small section. 
These sections are smaller than chapters, and com 
monly larger than verses ; yet sometimes the para 
graph contains only a single verse, as in 1 Sam 
xxiii. 29 ; unless we reckon this paragraph to end 
with verse 8 of the following chapter. 

Ernest. What is the meaning of the word ? 

Uncle. The word paragraph is from the Greek, 
and means " a distinct part of a discourse." In 
common books a paragraph contains a number of 
sentences, and the blank space between paragraphs 
is much greater than between sentences. Com- 
monly wherever there is a break in a line, it shows 
that a new paragraph is begun. But the Bible is 
so printed that there is just such a break, or blank 
space, between the verses. And therefore, m 
order to show where a new paragraph begins, 
this mark (*[) is put after the number of the 
verse. 



128 AN INTRODUCTION 

Hilary. What is the use of this division into 
sections or paragraphs ? 

Uncle. It shows that the writer is now going to 
another part of the subject* Let me explain this by 
the first chapter in the Bible. This chapter con- 
sists of seven paragraphs. The first contains iiye 
verses. The second contains three verses, viz. 
verses 6, 7, and 8. The third contains five verses, 
viz. 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. The fourth, ten verses, 
viz. 14 — 23. And so on, to the end. Each of 
these little divisions treats of a different branch of 
the history. Thus the first is a general introduc- 
tion. The second tells us of the creation of light $ 
the third, of the creation of the firmament ; and so on. 

Ernest. Suppose we begin with the different 
sorts of divisions, and learn about them in regular 
order. 

Uncle. Very well. But let me hear whether 
you can name them. 

Ernest. The Bible is divided into, 1. Testa- 
ments ; 2. Books ; 3. Chapters ; 4. Paragraphs ; 
5. Verses. 

Uncle. "We have already talked about the first two 
of these divisions, into Testaments and books. We 
will now proceed to the third, which is chapters. 

Ernest. Was the Bible divided into thesp same 
chapters, when it was first written ? 

Uncle. Not at all. The penmen of the severa 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 129 

books wrote straight forward ; and, I suppose, 
made no division, except into sentences ; unless 
when they came to the end of a sheet or leaf. In 
very ancient manuscripts there is no division even 
between the words. 

Ernest. When was this division into chapters 
made ? 

Uncle. With the exception of the Psalms, which 
were always distinct, there was for some ages no divi- 
sion into these smaller portions. The five books of 
Moses were, indeed, parcelled into fifty or fifty-four 
large sections, called in Hebrew, Parashioth. One 
of these was read every Sabbath in the synagogue. 
A.nd when, during the persecuted state of the Jews, 
they were forbidden to read the Pentateuch, they 
substituted the Prophets, which in like manner they 
parcelled into fifty-four larger sections, called in 
Hebrew, Haphtoroth. One of these was read every 
Sabbath. Each of these larger sections was also 
subdivided, but these portions did not correspond 
with the present chapters and verses. 

Our present division into chapters was made by 
a learned theologian, named Hugo de Sancto Caro. 
He was a cardinal, which is the highest dignity 
below the pope, and lived about the middle of the 
thirteenth century, that is nearly six hundred years 
ago. Among his other labours, he undertook to 
make a concordance for the Latin Bible. 



AN INTRODUCTION 

Hilary. What is a concordance ? 

Uncle. A concordance is a dictionary, hf means 
of which we may find any passage of Scripture of 
which we remember a few words. For instance, 
I remember that there is a text which says that God 
" is able to abase" the proud. But I wish to have 
the exact words, and yet cannot recall the chapter 
and verse. I take this concordance, and look for 
the word abase. I read all the texts which con- 
tain this word. The fourth of them is the one I 
want. It is in the fourth chapter of Daniel, and the 
thirty-seventh verse : " 4 Those that walk in pride he 
is able to abase." You perceive that such a book 
must oe very useful. Now Sancto Caro, as I said, 
undertook to make such a concordance. But in 
order to be of any use, it must of course refer to 
the texts by means of some numbers. And as there 
were no numbered divisions, he divided the whole 
Bible into chapters, the same which we now have. 

Hilary. Did he divide these again into verses ? 

Uncle. Not exactly. He subdivided the chap- 
ters into smaller sections, somewhat larger than oui 
present verses; but instead of the numerals 1, 2, 
3, 4, &c, he marked these smaller sections by the 
Roman letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, which were 
placed along the margin, at equal distances. Rabbi 
Nathan, a Jew, afterwards adopted the same chap- 
ters in the Hebrew Bible. Then they came into 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 131 

use in other languages, and were adopted in all/the 
English versions of the Bible. 

Ernest. Then I suppose the chapters are the 
same in all languages into which the Scriptures 
have been translated. 

Uncle. Not altogether so. The chapters are 
divided differently in the Latin, the German, and 
the English; but this variation occurs only in a 
few cases. 

Ernest. Now, sir, will you inform us when the 
division into verses took place ? 

Uncle. The Old and the New Testaments were 
not divided into verses at the same time. The Old 
Testament was thus divided by Athias, a Jew of 
Amsterdam, who introduced verses into an edition 
of the Hebrew Bible, which he printed in 1661. 
These same divisions were afterwards employed in 
other languages. The New Testament was thus 
divided by a celebrated publisher of ancient works* 
named Robert Stephens. We have an account of 
this from the pen of his son, Henry Stephens, who 
was also a famous scholar. I will read you his 
words. Henry Stephens says that there are two 
very remarkable circumstances relating to his fa- 
ther's division of the New Testament into verses. 
"The first is, that my father finished this division 
of each chapter into verses, while travelling from 
p ans to Lyons , and indeed the greater part of it, 



i32 AN INTRODUCTION 

while riding by the way The second fact is, thai 
a short time prior to this journey, while he had the 
matter still in contemplation, almost all to whom 
he mentioned it, told him plainly, that he was an 
indiscreet man; as if he had wished to employ 
himself on an affair which would prove utterly use- 
less. But behold the result : in opposition to the 
opinion which condemned and discountenanced my 
father's undertaking, as soon as his invention was 
published, every edition of the New Testament, 
whether in Greek, Latin, French, German, or in 
any other language, which did not adopt it, was 
immediately discarded." 

Ernest. I can easily see what a great conve- 
nience it is, to have these divisions, great and 
small, and all numbered in regular order. If it 
were not for this, it would be very hard to point 
out where any particular text is found. 

Uncle. True ; this is a great convenience, and 
thus an advantage to Bible-readers. Yet this seems 
to be the only advantage arising from this division ; 
and there are some great disadvantages. 

Ernest. Pray tell me what they are, for I can- 
not think of any. 

Uncle. In the first place, the divisions are some- 
times injudicious and unhappy. Sentences are 
separated, which ought to have been left in con- 
nexion ; and a single sentence is sometimes broken 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 133 

into two or more verses. This very seriously 
affects the sense in certain places. Almost every 
reader, when he comes to the end of a verse, natu- 
rally supposes that the period is concluded — sus- 
pends his voice- — and makes a full stop. Let me 
give you one or two instances. Hilary, turn to 
Colossians iv. 1. That verse, as you will see in 
a moment, ought to have ended the preceding chap- 
ter, being merely the close of the apostle's exhorta- 
tion to masters and servants. Again, look at Psalm 
xcv. 7 : To-day if you will hear his voice, (here 
the verse ends,) harden not your hearts. You 
perceive the sentence is broken in the very midst, 
where there is only a comma. — Read aloud the 
1 2th verse of the next psalm. 

Hilary. Let the field be joyful, and ad that is 
therein ; then shall all the trees of the wood re- 
joice — 

Uncle. See ! you have let your voice fall ; yet 
the sentence goes on in the 13th verse. There is 
not even a comma : Then shall all the trees of the 
wood rejoice before the Lord; yet the verses are 
divided between the words "rejoice" and "before." 

In like manner the division into chapters often 

breaks the sense. The 53d chapter of Isaiah 

(" Who hath believed our report," &c.) cannot be 

understood, unless you begin with the 14th verse of 

12 



134 AN INTRODUCTION 

the preceding chapter. Look at that verse ; it should 
be the beginning of a chapter. 

The verse 1 Cor. xii. 31, really is the introduc- 
tion to the beautiful chapter which follows. Just 
listen how close the connexion is. But covet 
earnestly the best gifts. And yet I show unto 
you a more excellent way. Though I speak with 
the tongues of men and of angels, &c. If yon 
look at the twenty-first chapter of the Acts of the 
Apostles, you will see that it ends in the middle of 
a sentence, with only a comma. These instances 
are enough to show you, that there are some disad- 
vantages arising from an unhappy division. 

Ernest. But suppose these few places were 
divided more judiciously, would there still be any 
evils in the division into chapters and verses ? 

Uncle. I think there would still be a disadvan- 
tage, arising from the constant interruption of the 
sense, by these small divisions. They break up 
the whole narrative or discourse into a sort of dis 
jointed fragments. You would at once be sensible 
of this, if I were to give you any other book divided 
in this manner. Let us make the experiment. 
Here is a sheet of paper on which I have copied a 
part of the Pilgrim's Progress, divided into verses, 
after the manner of our modern Bibles. I wish to 
know what you think of it. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 135 

1. Now there was, not far from the place where 
they lay, a castle, called Doubting Castle, th<§ 
owner whereof was Giant Despair ; 

2. And it was in his grounds they were now 
sleeping. 

3* Wherefore he getting up in the morning early, 
and walking up and down in his fields, caught 
Christian and Hopeful asleep in his grounds. 

4. Then with a grim and surly voice, he bid 
them awake, and asked them whence they were, 
and what they did in his grounds. 

5. They told him they were pilgrims, and that 
they had lost their way. 

6. Then said the giant, You have this night 
trespassed on me, by trampling in, and lying on 
my grounds, 

7. And therefore you must go along with me. 

8. So they were forced to go, because he was 
stronger than they. 

9. They also had but little to say, for they knew 
themselves in a fault. 

10. The giant therefore drove them before him* 
and put them into his castle, in a very dark dun- 
geon. 

Hilary. O, I now see what you mean ! These 
little divisions produce a constant stoppage — each 
sentence seems a thing by itself. I should soon 
grow weary of reading a book divided in this way 



136 AN INTRODUCTION 

Uncle. Exactly so ; and for this very reason 
many persons grow more weary of reading the 
Scriptures, than they would otherwise be. 

Ernest. But why does not some one print an 
edition of our English Bible just as other books 
are printed ? 

Uncle. O there have been several such. Look 
in the book-case behind you, and reach me the 
volumes in red morocco. This is just such an 
edition as you speak of. All these Bibles are undi- 
vided, except into ordinary paragraphs. But they 
have the number of the verse marked in the 
margin. 

And now I think we may dismiss this subject foi 
this morning 



TO THE SCRIPTURES 137 



CHAPTER XL 

Acrostics in the Bible — Running titles — Titles of the chapters— 
The margin — Marginal notes — Divisions of these — Marginal 
explanations — Marginal readings — Marginal references — 
Two kinds of marginal readings — Use of these. 

Ernest and Hilary found that the conversation 
of their uncle had this good effect, that it led them 
to read more in the Scriptures than they had ever 
done before. Often during the day, they might be 
seen with their little pocket Bibles in their hands, 
turning over the leaves, finding the places which 
had been pointed out to them, and examining one 
another upon what they had learned. The next 
day was Sunday, and they spent much of their 
time in careful reading of the Scriptures. On 
Monday morning they hastened at a very early 
hour to the study, where they found their affection- 
ate uncle ready to receive them. "Well, my boys," 
said he, as he placed seats for them near the fire, 
" what have you got to inquire about this morn- 
ing?" 

Ernest. I think you said, sir, that the Psalms 
were always divided just as they are at preseni,. 

Uncle. Yes. Because each psalm was a sepa- 
rate composition ; being a hvmn or a prayer com- 
12* 



138 AN INTRODUCTION 

posed on some special occasion. They were after- 
wards collected and arranged as we now have 
them. 

Ernest. I have been looking at the 119th Psalm, 
which seems to be the longest chapter in the Bible, 
for it has a hundred and seventy-six verses. But 
I see that it is also divided into other divisions. I 
have counted them ; there are twenty-two of them. 
Each one contains eight verses, and each one has 
a strange word over the top, such as Jlleph, Beth, 
Gimel, &c. I have often wondered what this 
meant. 

Uncle. I can soon explain this. But first let me 
ask whether you know what an acrostic is ? 

Hilary. O yes, we know that very well. An 
acrostic is a poem, in which the first letter of every 
line being taken, makes up the name of some per- 
son. 

Ernest. I have seen a poem of sixteen lines, in 
praise of General Washington ; and if you tooK all 
the first letters of the lines together, they spelt 
George Washington. 

Uncle. Very well. The 119th Psalm is a kind 
of acrostic ; not indeed in English, but in Hebrew. 
If you could read Hebrew, I would show you that 
every one of the eight verses begins with the samr* 
letter. And the name of that letter is placed at the 
beginning of the division. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 139 

Hilary Then these hard words, Aleph, Beth 
and so on, are the names of the Hebrew letters ? 

Uncle. Exactly so. The old Hebrew alphabet 
contained twenty-tivo letters. Their names are 
Aleph, Beth, Gimel, &c. These names you will 
find set down in regular order in this psalm. Each 
of the first eight verses begins with some word 
which begins with Aleph ; each of the second set 
with Beth, and so on to the end. 

Ernest. This is surprising, indeed. Are there 
any .other parts of Scripture written in the same 
way ? 

Uncle. Yes, this was a favourite method with 
the Hebrew poets. 

Hilary. What was the use of this arrangement? 

Uncle. I suppose it was meant to assist the me- 
mory. It is commonly used where there are a 
number of little unconnected sentences, or proverbs, 
which it would be difficult to recollect without 
some such aid. There are twelve of these acros- 
tical poems in the Old Testament. In most cases, 
however, only a single verse begins with each 
letter. 

Three of these passages are perfectly alphabeti- 
cal, namely, Psalms cxi. and cxii. and the third 
chapter of Lamentations. Each line is marked by 
its initial letter. In the other nine passages, only 
every stanza is thus distinguished. These are 



'40 AN INTRODUCTION 

Psalms xxv. xxxiv. xxxvii. cxix. cxlv. Pro? 
xxxi. 10 — 31. Lam. i. ii. and iv. 

Hilary. Then all these twelve poems must have 
been divided into verses from the first. Must they 
not? 

Uncle. Yes, you are right. For the letters of 
the alphabet, with which every line or stanza began, 
separated it into a distinct verse. And now, as we 
have explained the difficulty about the 119th Psalm, 
we may proceed to something else. 

Ernest. If you have nothing else to teach us 
iust now, there is a question which I should like 
to ask. 

Uncle. Ask it, my child. 

Ernest. I have been turning over the leaves of 
this large English Bible on your table, and I see 
that it differs in some things from our small pocket 
Bibles. 

Uncle. In what respects do you observe any dif 
ference ? 

Ernest. Why, sir, I see a line at the top of everj 
column throughout the whole book. That is one 
difference. Please to look at the second page, over 
the second chapter of Genesis. Here are the 
words, The first Sabbath. And over the next 
column are the words, The naming of the crea- 
tures. And so on page after page — The serpent 
tempt eth Eve — Man is cast out of Paradise — The 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 141 

curses of Cain; and so it continues through every 
book in the Bible. 

Uncle. These little lines at the top of the page 
are called the " running- titles." They were made, 
I believe, by the same persons who translated the 
Bible. They are intended to show what is the 
subject of the verses below them. Thus, if you 
were looking through Exodus, to find when the 
Passover was instituted, you would have only to 
turn over the pages rapidly, reading the running 
titles ; and after turning over five or six leaves, you 
would come to the words The Passover is insti- 
tuted, immediately over the 12th chapter. This 
would be just what you wished to find. In all 
complete copies of the Bible these running-titles 
are inserted, but they are omitted in many of the 
smaller and cheaper editions. 

Ernest. I observe also at the beginning of every 
chapter in the whole Bible several lines of the same 
kind, in the same sort of type. 

Uncle. I see what you mean. These are the 
titles of the chapters. They tell you what is con- 
tained in the chapter, and are a sort of index to the 
Scriptures. They answer the same purpose with 
the running-titles, but they are more full and com- 
prehensive. Thus if you look at the 12th chapter 
of Exodus, to which you turned just now, and read 
the title, you will see what the chapter contains. 



142 AN INTRODUCTION. 

1. The beginning of the year is changed. 3. The 
Passover is instituted. 11. The rite of the Pass- 
over. 15. Unleavened bread. 29. The first-born 
are slain. 31. The Israelites are driven out of 
the land. 37. They come to Succoth. 43. Tht 
ordinance of the Passover. 

Hilary. What do those little figures mean in the 
middle of the sentences ? 

Uncle. They show at what verse each subject 
begins ; thus the figure 3 shows that the " institu- 
tion of the Passover" is related at the third verse. 
So you perceive these titles of the chapters are very 
useful in helping us to find any particular passage. 
These also are left out in the smaller and cheaper 
editions. 

Take notice that you may read these titles 
straight on, through a whole book, (omitting the 
numerals,) and you will thus have a little abridge- 
ment of all the book contains. Let us take, for ex- 
ample, the book of Ruth, because it is short. I 
will merely read the titles of the four chapters, 
without stopping. 

" Eiimelech, driven by famine into Moab, dieth 
there.. Mahlon and Chilion, having married wives 
of Moab, die also. Naomi, returning homeward, 
dissuadeth her two daughters-in-law from going 
with her. Orpah leaveth her, but Ruth with greai 
constancy accompanieth her. They two come to 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 143 

Bfcth-lehem, where they are gladly received. Ruth 
gleoneth in the fields of Boaz. Boaz, taking know- 
ledge of her, showeth her grea f , favour. That which 
she got, she carrieth to Naomi. By Naomi's in- 
struction, Ruth lieth at Boaz's feet. Boaz acknow- 
ledged the right of a kinsman. He sendeth her 
away with six measures of barley. Boaz calleth 
into judgment the next kinsman. He refuseth the 
redemption according to the manner of Israel. 
Boaz buyeth the inheritance. He marries Ruth. 
She beareth Obed, the grandfather of David. The 
genealogy of Pharez." 

Here, you see, we have a little epitome of the 
whole history. And I have often found it useful, 
after I have finished the perusal of any book in the 
Bible, to go back, and read over all the titles of the 
chapters, in order to refresh my memory, and fix 
the connexion of events in my mind. 

Hilary. Now, uncle, I have another thing which 
I wish to have explained. There is still something 
on every page of the large Bible w r hich I do not 
find in our smaller ones. Down each side of every 
page there are a great many words in very small 
print. If you will look at the first chapter in the 
Bible, you will see what I mean. Just by the side 
of the first verse, on the left hand, I read 

a John 1. 1, 2. Heb. 1. 10. 
b Ps.8.3.&33. 6. &89. 11, 12 
& !02. 25. & 13b. 5. &c 



144 AN INTRODUCTION 

And a little lower down, by the sixth verse, I 
read, Heb. between the light and between the dark- 
ness. 

Uncle. All this, you perceive, is in the margin. 

Hilary. What is meant by the margin ? 

Uncle. The margin is the edge of any thing. 
Thus the margin of a river is the edge of the river ; 
the margin of a page is the edge of the page, which 
is commonly left blank. But sometimes there are 
little notes or explanations printed in this margin, 
either at the sides or at the bottom ; and these are 
called marginal notes. The small print, which 
you observe at the sides of the page in the large 
Bible, is of three kinds. It consists, first, of mar- 
ginal readings, or translations ; secondly, of mar- 
ginal explanations ; and,- thirdly, of marginal 
references. 

Hilary. What do you mean by marginal read- 
ings ? 

Uncle. I will explain. In many cases, the He- 
brew or the Greek text might be translated in two 
different ways. The translators were perhaps" 
doubtful which was the best. They therefore 
placed one of these in the text, and the other in the 
margin. Sometimes also, the exact literal transla- 
tion would sound very strange in English, and then 
they would put it into the margin. 

Ernest Please to explain this a little further. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 145 

Uncle, I will try to make myself understood. 
There are two sorts of marginal translations. And 
take notice they may be distinguished by the little 
word which precedes them. Every one of these 
little marginal readings begins, either with the let- 
ters Heb. or with the word Or. For example, 
look again at this first chapter of Genesis. There 
is a marginal reading at verse 4 ; it begins with the 
letters Heb. The marginal readings at verses 5, 
6. 11. 14. 16. and 20, all begin with Heb. They 
are therefore of the first kind. 

Hilary. What is there peculiar in this first kind 
of marginal readings? 

Uncle. They are all exact, literal translations from 
the Hebrew or the Greek. As it is the same in both, 
I will confine myself to the Old Testament. When- 
ever you find a marginal note beginning with Heb. t 
you may know that it is a very literal translation 
from the Hebrew — often so literal that it would 
not sound right in English. The letters Heb. 
stand for Hebrew, and signify " In the original 
Hebrew it is" so and so. Thus look at tne mar- 
ginal note to the 4th verse ; it is as follows : Heb. 
between the light and between the darkness. Tnis 
is a translation word for word from the Hebrew. 
But this does not sound well in English, and there- 
fore the translation in the text is, "the light from 
the darkness." 

13 



146 AN INTRODUCTION 

In the New Testament, this first kind of marginal 
readings is just the same, except that Gr. is usea 
instead of Heb. Gr. stands for Greek, in which 
language you remember the New Testament was 
written. 

Hilary. Well, uncle, I think we understand 
about the first kind of marginal readings. They 
always begin with Heb. or Gr.; and they always 
contain a translation which is, word for word, like 
the Hebrew or Greek. 

Uncle. Exactly right. Now you remember I 
told you of a second kind. 

Ernest. Yes, sir ; the second kind of marginal 
readings begins with the word Or. 

Hilary. There is one in the chapter we have 
open. Gen. i. It is at verse 20. 

Ernest. Here is another in the second chapter, 
at verse 14. 

Uncle. Wherever the marginal reading is of this 
second kind, beginning with Or, the original ad- 
mits of two different translations. One of them is 
put in the text ; the other is put in the margin. 
Thus, in the first case, (Gen. i. 20,) the transla- 
tion in the text is, the " moving" creature ; but 
the margin says " oi creeping :" because the He- 
brew word maybe rendered either " moving' ' or 
** creeping." And in the second case, (Gen. ii. 14,) 
the translation in the text is, that is it which 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 147 

goeth " toward the east of" Assyria ; but the mar 
gin says " or eastward to Assyria:'''' because the 
Hebrew words may be rendered either way. And 
he sense is often very different. 

Hilary. Is the translation in the margin by the 
same persons who made the other translation ? 

Uncle. The very same ; and is of equal author- 
ity. It is to be wished that every edition of the 
Scriptures had these marginal readings, because, in 
some instances, the best translation is placed in. 
the margin. 

Ernest. How did this happen 1 Did not the 
translators make the text as perfect as they could ? 

Uncle. There was, you know, a translation in 
common use before this was made. The people 
had a great affection for this old version, and did 
not like to see any alterations made. King James, 
therefore, commanded the translators to make no 
unnecessary changes in the old expressions. And, 
therefore, in many cases, they inserted the less cor- 
rect version in the text, and placed the proper one 
in the margin, lest they should disturb the mind? 
of common readers.* 



* The first rule given by James I. to the translators warn 
tn these words . " The ordinary Bible read in the churca, 
commonly called the Bishops' Bible, to be followed, and as 
little altered as the original will permit." 



148 AN INTRODUCTION 

Hilary, It seems to me that these marginal read- 
ings are not in half our Bibles. 

Uncle, That is, unhappily, true. Most ot our 
American Bibles omit them. But they are of 
equal value with the other translation, and often 
afford great help in understanding a passage. 



TO THE SCRimTRES. 149 



CHAPTER XII. 

Marginal explanations continued- Dates — Abbreviations ex- 
plained — Explanations of proper names — Brief comments- 
Marginal references — Mode of using these — Use of parallel 
places exemplified — Recommended by Bishop Horsley — Good 
editions recommended — Use of Italics in the English Bible- 
Use of capitals — The word Lord — Use of brackets. 

Hilary. There seem to be some other things 
in the margin which are not translations. 

Uncle. Yes, you remember I told you before,* 
that besides the marginal readings, there were two 
other sorts of notes in the margin. 

Ernest. I remember them ; marginal explana- 
tions, and marginal references. 

Uncle. I have explained to you the marginal 
readings ; now we will go on to the marginal ex- 
planations. Some of these give the dates of the 
transactions recorded. These are commonly at the 
top of the page, just under the running- title. I 
suppose you know what is meant by the date of a 
transaction. 

Ernest. Yes, sir; the time when any thing 
takes place. 



* See page 141. 
13* 



150 AN INTRODUCTION 

Uncle. Turn again to the first chapter of Gene 
sis, and you will see over the top, " Before Christ, 
4004." That is, the world was created four thou 
sand and four years before the birth of our Saviour. 
Such dates you will find at every page. 

Ernest. In the New Testament, the words are 
different. The words "Anno Domini" are at the 
top of each page. 

Uncle. Anno Domini means, " In the year of 
our Lord," and then follows the number of years 
from Christ's birth. Thus in the Old Testament, 
we reckon backwards from the advent of Christ, 
and in the New Testament, we reckon forwards 
from the same point. 

Hilary. In some places there is a syllable put 
before the number of the year. Over the eleventh 
chapter of Judges, it says, " Before Christ cir. 
1143." What is meant by cir. ? 

Uncle. I am always pleased to see you on the 
watch for something. Cir. stands for the Latin 
word circiter, which means about. That is, 
"About 1143 years before Christ;" for in many 
eases, the translators could not fix the exact date, 
but came as near to it as they could. And I will 
take this occasion to say, that learned men differ 
very much about the precise time when many 
other events took place. In a number of instances 
the dates given at the top of the margin are though 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 15} 

to be incorrect : yet they are generally very useful, 
and we should have a much better understanding of 
what we read, if we more commonly took notice of 
them. 

Ernest. Are these numbers always at the top of 
the column 1 

Uncle. No. Often they are in the middle, or, 
indeed, in any other part of the margin. Thus in 
the eleventh chapter, there is a date given aftei 
every five or six verses. 

But this is not the only kind of explanations 
which occur in the margin. There are also 
little remarks in various places, intended to ex- 
plain some difficulty in the text. I will give you 
several examples. Look at Gen. v. 29, and you 
will find a note which tells you that the name Noah 
means rest or comfort. At Josh, xxiii. 34, we 
read. that a certain altar was called Ed ; in the mar- 
gin we read the meaning of the word, " That is, 
witness." In Judg. vi. 24, another altar is called 
Jehovahshalom : in the margin we read, " That is. 
the Lord send peace 

Ernest. Are all these little remarks explanations 
of proper names ? 

Uncle. Not all of them, though the greater num- 
ber are ; for many of them are little comments 
on the text. Look at Judg. iii. 30, and you will 
tind the remark : "It seems to concern only the 



152 AN INTRODUCTION 

country next the Philistines." And in the history 
of Jephthah, (Judg. xi. 29,) we read in the note, 
" Jephthah seems to have been iudge only of North 
East Israel." So also you will find a longer noto 
at 2 Kings xv. 1. And another at Hos. ix. 3 
And again at Luke xix. 13, where an account is 
given of a nobleman who gave his servants " ten 
pounds ;" the marginal explanation says : " Mina, 
here translated a pound, is twelve ounces and a 
half : which, according to five shillings the ounce, 
is three pounds two shillings and sixpence." 

Now we have gone over two kinds of marginal 
notes, first, marginal readings or translations, and 
secondly, marginal explanations. And these ex 
planations we found were of three sorts, — dates^ 
translations of proper names, and short observa* 
tions. A third kind of marginal notes still remains. 

Ernest. Yes, uncle, marginal references ; and 
I think I see them now, without having you to 
point them out to me. In the very first page, the 
small print by the first verse in the Bible ; are 
not these marginal references ? 

Uncle. Yes. The words "a John 1. 1, 2 
Heb. 1. 10," and all similar words are what 1 
mean. These refer you to other texts in the Scrip- 
tures, which teach the same doctrine, or afford 
some useful explanation. Thus the first of these 
references is placed by the opening verse of Gene- 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 153 

sis : " In the beginning God created the heaven 
and the earth." And the reference in the margin 
is to John 1. 1, 2, which teaches the same truth: 
'• In the beginning was the Word, and the Word 
was with God, and the Word was God. The same 
was in the beginning with God." 

Hilary. What is the meaning of the little letter 
(a) prefixed to the reference ? 

Uncle. It points out what word or phrase in the 
text is particularly illustrated by the reference. 
Do you not see the same little letter in the text ? 

Hilary. O yes ! I see a little a at the word 
" beginning." 

Uncle. That is the portion of the text which is 
illustrated by John i. 1, 2. And if you look a little 
further you will see the letter b, before the phrase, 
"God created;" the same small letter in the mar- 
gin refers you to the passages which teach the 
same doctrine. 

Ernest. What is the use of these marginal re- 
ferences ? 

Uncle. They point out other passages which 
help us to understand the text. Now, remember, 
these other passages are what are called parallel 
passages; that is, passages which are alike — 
which teach the same thing — or which explain one 
another. And these are very useful ; for very often 
a thing is stated briefly in one passage, which is 



1<*>4 AN INTRODUCTION 

explained at length in another. Or a truth is partly 
expressed in one place, and fully expressed in an 
other. Or a statement is made in one passage, and 
some fact which makes it very clear is given in thft 
parallel passage. 

Ernest, Be so good as to give us an example. 

Uncle. Turn then to the last verse of the first 
chapter of Hebrews. 

Ernest. Heb. i. 14 : Are they not all minis- 
tering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who 
shall be heirs of salvation ? 

Uncle. That teaches us that the angels are minis- 
tering spirits, or that they attend upon the children 
of God. Now look for the marginal references, in 
regular order. 

Ernest. The letter x points out the first set. 
Gen. xix. 16. Yes, I see this text relates how 
two angels delivered Lot out of Sodom. 

Hilary. Gen. xxxii. 1, 2. 24. These texts tell 
about the angels who met Jacob, and about the 
angel who wrestled with him. 

Ernest. Ps. xxxiv. 7 : " The angel of the Lord 
encampeth round about them that fear him, and 
delivereth them." 

Hilary. Ps. xci. 11 : "For He shall give his 
angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy 
ways." 

Ernest. Ps. ciii. 20, 21 : " Bless the Lord, ve 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 1 55 

his angels that excel in strength, that do his com 
mandments," &c. 

Hilary. Dan. iii. 28 This speaks of an angel 
who delivered the three young men from the fur- 
nace. 

Ernest. Dan. vii. 10: "Thousand thousands 
ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten 
thousand stood before Him." 

Uncle. You need not read any further. I am 
sure you see already the light which is thrown on 
Scripture, by examining the parallel texts. 

Ernest. It seems to be almost as good as a com- 
mentary. 

Uncle. Very often the parallel passages furnish 
the best commentary in the world. 

This is so truly the case, that it is surprising 
how much knowledge of the Bible may be obtained 
by a common reader, who carefully makes use of 
all these marginal references. On this subject the 
'earned Bishop Horsley says : 

" It is incredible to any one who has not made 
the experiment, what a proficiency may be made 
m that knowledge which maketh wise unto salva- 
tion, by studying the Scriptures in this manner, 
without any other commentary, or exposition, 
than what the different parts of the sacred volume 
mutually furnish for each other. Let the most 
'Uiterate Christian study them in this manner, and 



156 AN INTRODUCTION 

let him never cease to pray for the illumination of 
that Spirit by which these books were dictated : and 
the whole compass of abstruse philosophy and re- 
condite history shall furnish no argument with 
which the perverse will of man shall be able to 
shake this learned Christian's faith."* 

Ernest. Now I believe we have finished all the 
three kinds of marginal notes. I will try to repeat 
them. First, marginal readings; which are 
either more exact translations from the Hebrew, or 
translations with another meaning. Secondly, 
marginal explanations ; which are dates, or trans- 
lations of proper names, or short observations. 
Thirdly ? marginal references, or parallel passages. 

Uncle. I wish you to observe that in our ordi- 
nary editions, these are all in the margin, but of 
late years a number of excellent editions of the Bi- 
ble have appeared, with these marginal notes an(? 
references between the column. Such are BagsterV 
London Bibles, the Reference Bibles of the Ame- 
rican Bible Society, and an edition published by 
the Society of Friends. All these are truly excel 
lent editions. 

Ernest. I have seen some Bibles which seem te 
have a much larger collection of references to paral 
iel texts. 

* Horsley's Nine Sermons, p. 224—238. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 15/ 

Uncle True. The labour of biblical students 
has been constantly adding to the number, for man} 
years. You would be surprised to learn how vast 
is the amount of these collections. To give you 
some idea of this, I will give you on a paper the 
names of certain editions of the Bible, with their 
respective dates, and the number of marginal refer- 
ences in each. 

Number of parallel texts. 

First edition of 1611 9000 

J. Haye's 1677 2.5,895 

Dr. Scattergood's 1678 33,145 

Bps. Tenison and Lloyd's. 1699 39,488 

Dr. Blayney's 1709 64,988 

Bishop Wilson's 1785 66,995 

Besides these, I might mention Reference Bibles 
0y the Rev. Dr. Thomas Scott, the Rev. Dr. Adam 
Clarke, and also those published by Mr. Bagster of 
London. 

Ernest. There is another thing I wish to have 
explained. I have often taken notice that different 
sorts of print are used in the Bible. Why is this ? 

Uncle. Ah ! you mean the Italics. But let me 
see whether you are acquainted with the difference 
between Roman and Italic letters. This sentence 
is in Roman type : 

" He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like 
a city that is broken down, and without wails." 

Ernest. Here is the same verse in Italic type 
14 



158 AN INTROPTJCTION 

" He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like 
a city that is broken down, and without ivalls." 

Hilary. Yes, I know the difference. The Italic 
Letters lean a little more, and are shaped more like 
our common writing letters. 

Uncle. Now look at the same verse in the 
twenty-fifth chapter of Proverbs, last verse : 

" He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like 
a city that is broken down, and without walls." 

Now tell me whether this is in Roman or Italic 
type. 

Ernest. Partly in one, and partly in the other. 
The words hath — is like — that is — and and, are 
«i Italics ; all the rest are in Roman. Now what 
I want to learn is, why these words are in 
Italics ? 

Uncle. To show that they are not in the original, 
but are supplied by the translators in order to com- 
plete the sense. Very often, if a verse should be 
translated word for word, it would be scarcely in- 
telligible in English. Read this passage, omitting 
the words in Italics, and you will perceive what I 
mean. 

Hilary. "He that ro rule over his own 

spirit* '"a city* •••broken down- •••without walls." 

Uncle. Wherever the translators insert a word 
which is not in the Greek or the Hebrew, they had 
it printed in this way. And this shows the re- 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 15 1 J 

markable honesty of our translation, where not even 
an "if" or an " and" is added, without being thus 
acknowledged. Commonly a few words only are 
added ; but in some verses more are necessary. It if 
very important for every Bible reader to understanu 
this use of Italics. For in other books, Italics are 
often employed to show that a particular emphasis 
is to be laid on the word thus printed. But in the 
Bible, the words in Italics are never emphatical. 

Hilary. Are not the marginal readings also in 
Italics ? 

Uncle. Commonly they are so. But sometimes 
the marginal readings have words which are not in 
the original, and these are printed in Roman letters. 
Thus in 2 Chron. xx. 24, in the margin we read, 
" there was not an escaping." The words " there 
was" are not in the Hebrew. 

Ernest. I see how it is. The printing in the 
margin is exactly the reverse of the printing in the 
text. 

Uncle. Precisely. What would be Roman in 
the text, is Italic in the margin ; and what would 
be Italic in the text, is Roman in the margin. 

Ernest. In many texts I see that some of the 
words are in large letters. 

Uncle. Sometimes very important words are 
printed in capitals. T.ie most remarkable case oi 
this is the name LorDc You will observe that 1 



160 AN INTRODUCTION 

is sometimes in small letters, and sometimes m 
capitals. It is in capitals only when the Hebrew 
word Jehovah is used in the original. This is the 
most awful name of God. It is supposed to signify 
the divine self-existence, eternity, and independence. 

Ernest. This is something entirely new to me. 

Uncle. And it is worthy of being remembered. 
Wherever you find the divine name Lord in small 
capitals, you may be sure that in the Hebrew it is 
Jehovah. But whenever it is in ordinar}^ letters, 
there is some other name in the Hebrew.* Yon 
will see both names in the first verse of the eighth 
psalm : " O Lord our Lord, how excellent is \hy 
name in all the earth !" Which might be read 
thus : u O Jehovah, our Lord, how excellent is thy 
name in all the earth !" Indeed, some learned men 
are of the opinion that the word Jehovah should 
have been retained in all places, as it has been in 
many. 

Ernest. But capitals are used in printing some 
other words ; are they not ? 

Uncle. They are ; as, for instance, when some 
divine name is mentioned, to which great attention 
ought to be paid. In Ex. iii. 14, we have one of 
the names of God : I am that I am. In Zech. vi. 
12, Christ is called the Branch. In Jer. xxiii. 6, 

* Commonly Adonai. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 16) 

it is said, " And this is his name whereby he shall 
be called, The Lord our Righteousness." 

Again, when an inscription or the quotation of 
some title is repeated, it is sometimes put in small 
capitals. You will better understand this from the 
examples. In Ex. xxxix. 30, we have the title or 
inscription which was engraved on the crown of 
the high-priest : Holiness to the Lord. In Zech. 
xiv. 20, we have the same inscription. In Dan. v. 
25, we have the inscription on Belshazzar's wall: 
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. In Matt, xxvii. 
37, Ave have the title which was placed over the 
head of our crucified Redeemer : This is Jesus 
the King of the Jews. This title was in three 
languages, and you will see other forms of it, in 
Mark xv. 26, Luke xxiii. 38, and John xix. 19. 
In Rev. xix. 16, we have the inscription which was 
on the vesture and the thigh of Messiah : King of 
kings and Lord of lords. All these are in capi- 
tals, and these may serve as examples. Indeed 
these are almost all the instances in the whole Bible. 

Hilary. Now, uncle, I hope we are done with all 
that relates to the printing and type. 

Uncle. There is only one little matter of this 
sort which remains. Look at the first epistle of 
John, second chapter and twenty-third verse. 

Hilary. " Whosoever denieth the Son, the Fame 
14* 



162 AN INTRODUCTION 

hath not the Father : [but he that achnowledgeth 
the Son hath the Father also.'] 

Ernest. Here is something more than Italics; 
nere are ten words in a sort of parenthesis. 

Uncle. Those ten words are enclosed in marks 

] which are called brackets. These brackets 
show that the translators doubted whether the words 
between these marks belonged to the Scriptures. 

Ernest. Why were they in any doubt about it ? 

Uncle. I suppose because it was wanting in the 
chief ancient manuscripts which they consulted. 
It is entirely wanting in the earlier English versions. 
But all learned commentators at this day agree that 
it does really form a part of holy Scripture, and 
therefore the brackets might be omitted. 

And now, Hilary, we have finished all that re- 
lates to the type and printing. Though it may 
have been a little dry, it will prove useful to you 
through life. You may now go out, and divert 
yourselves with your Christmas plays. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 163 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The dedication to King James — Tables at the end of the English 
Bible — Proper names which are written differently in differ- 
ent places — Hard words in the book of Psalms — Selah, Hig- 
gaion, etc. — Untranslated words — Hosanna, Tirshatha, etc.— 
Obsolete words — List of these. 

It has always been observed, that the more dill* 
gently any one studies the Scriptures, the more 
pleasure he takes in the study. Those who know 
most about the Bible love it best. It is like a pre- 
cious mine, in which the deeper we go the more 
profitable do we find our labour. Our two little 
boys already experienced the truth of this. They 
had spent a good part of their Christmas holidays 
in listening to their uncle's conversations about the 
Bible, and yet they frequently said to one another 
that they had never passed a vacation so agreeably. 
As they were sitting by the fire in the study, the 
next morning, before their uncle came in, Hilary 
said to his brother, " Do you remember, Ernest, 
that before we left New York I told you that I 
wondered how our uncle could avoid being weary 
of reading so much in the Bible ?" 

Ernest. Yes, I remember it very well ; but 
what do you think about it now ? 



164 AN INTRODUCTION 

Hilary. I do not wonder any longer, for I see 
that it is the most interesting book in all the world 
Every time I oper my pocket Bible, I find some- 
thing which I did not understand formerly, bu 
which my uncle has explained to me. 

Ernest,, So do I. Now I know what is mean 
by the capitals, and the Italics, and the marginal 
readings, and this makes me take vastly more plea- 
sure in the book than I ever could do before. But 
there are still two or three things which I wish to 
nave explained. 

Hilary. What are they ? 

Ernest. I will let you know as soon as our 
uncle comes in. O here he is already ! Let us get 
our books and papers ready. 

Uncle. Boys, are you ready for another lesson ? 

Hilary. Yes, sir, indeed we are, and Ernest has 
found out several other things in the English Bible 
which he does not understand. 

Ernest. There is a dedication at the beginning 
of the Bible, and there are several tables at the 
close of the Old Testament. You have never said 
any thing about these. 

Uncle. This is easily explained. You remem- 
ber that I gave you a history of our English version, 
and told you that it was made by the order of King 
James the First. When the translators, therefore, 
had completed their work, they thought it right to 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 165 

dedicate it to their sovereign, and caused this dedi- 
cation to be composed, and printed in the beginning 
of the Bible. It is placed in all English Bibles, 
and in such American Bibles as were printed before 
the Revolution. But it is now very properly omitted, 
as it contains nothing worthy of accompanying the 
word of God. 

The tables of which you spoke are also by the 
translators, and they have been of great use to thou- 
sands of pious readers. There is a Table of Scrip- 
ture Measures, which shows the value of the an- 
cient measures used in the Bible, and giving us the 
amount in feet and inches, or in gallons and pints, 
or in bushels and pecks, as the case may be. Thus 
a homer is equal to seventy-five gallons, five pints, 
and a fraction. There is a Table of Weights and 
Money, and also a Table of Time. If you only 
know the rule in arithmetic called reduction, you 
may easily find, from this money table, how many 
dollars and cents are contained in any sum of money 
mentioned in Scripture. 

The first editions of our English Bible contained 
i long and excellent preface by the translators, 
which has been omitted in later copies. 

Ernest. I think I have observed that some pro- 
ber names are different in the Old and New Testa- 
ments. 

Uncle. That is true. And not only so, some 



166 AM INTRODUCTION 

names are differently written in difTeient places in 
the same Testament. For example, let Hilary 
read the eighth verse of the fourth chapter of He- 
brews, 

Hilary. ** For if Jesus had given them rest, then 
would he not afterward have spoken of another 
day." 

Uncle. Whom does the apostle mean by Jesus? 

Ernest. I suppose he means the Lord Jesus. 

Uncle. Not at all. He means Joshua. This 
person is called by four names in Scripture : Joshua, 
Jehoshua, Oshea, and Jesus. Acts vii. 45. Num. 
xiii. 8. 16. In order to assist you in your reading 
of the Scriptures, I will give you a little table of 
the principal names which appear in more than one 
form, with some references to the places. This 
paper you may copy, and lay it in your Bibles. 

Achan, also called Achar. Josh. vii. 18. 1 Chron 

ii. 7. 
Ai, Hai. Gen. xiii. 3. Josh. vii. 2. 
Amos, Amoz. 2 Kings xix. 2. Isa. i. 1. 

Asshur, Assur. Gen. x. 1. Hos. xiv. 3. 
Askelon, Ashkelon. Judg. i. 8. Zech. ix. 5 

Azariah, Ozia, Uzziah. Matt. i. 8, 9. 2 Chron. 

xxvi. 1. 2 Kings xiv. 21. 
Elijah, Elias. 1 Kings xvii 1. Matt. xi. 14. 
Elisha, Eliseus Luke iv. 27. 1 Kings xix. 16. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 167 

Hadadezer, Hadarezer. 2 Sam. viii. 3. 1 Chron 

xviii. 3. 
Hagar, Agar. Gen. xxi. 9. Gal. iv. 24. 
Hezekiah, Ezekias. 2 Kings xvi. 20. Matt. i. 9. 
Isaiah, Esaias. John xii. 39. 
Jeremiah, Jeremy, Matt. xvi. 14. ii. 17. 
Jehoahaz, Ahaziah. 2 Kings x. 35. 2 Chron. 

xx. 35. 
Jonah, Jonas. Jonah i. 3. Matt, xii 39. 
Joram, Jehoram, Hadoram. 1 Chron. xviii. 10. 

2 Kings viii. 16. 2 Sam. viii. 10. 
Joshua, Jehoshua, Oshea, Jesus. Heb. iv. 8. 

Num. xiii. 8. 16. 
Judah, Judas, Jude. Num. xxvi. 22. Matt. i. 2 

Luke vi. 16. Jude i. 1. 
Naashon, Naasson. Ex. vi. 23. Luke iii. 32. 
Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadrezzar. Ezek. xxvi. 7. 

Jer. xxvii. 8. 
Noah, Noe. Gen. vii 1 Luke xvii. 26. 
Rabbah, Rabbath. Amos i. 14. Deut. iii. 11. 
Saul, Shaul. Gen. xxxvi. 37. 1 Chron. i. 48. 
Sidou, Zidon. Gen. x. 15. 1 Chron. i. 13. 
Sdoah, Siloam. Neh. iii. 15. John ix. 7. 
Uriah, Urijah. Neh. iii 21. 2 Sam. xi. 3. 
Zachariah, Zechariah, Zacharias. Mai. xxiii. 35 

Ezra v. 1 Luke i. 5. 
Zion, Sion. 2 Sam. v. 7. Heb. xii. 22. 



16'S AN INTRODUCTION 

Ernest. Why is there this cifferenee ? 

Uncle. Some of the differences are in the He 
orew, and cannot be accounted for now. Others 
arise from following the Hebrew spelling in the 
Old Testament, and the Greek in the New. Thus 
Noe is the Greek way of writing Noah. King 
James, in the third rule given to the translators, 
directed "the names of the prophets and the holy 
writers, with the other names in the text, to be re- 
tained as near as may be, accordingly as they are 
vulgarly used." 

Ernest. Since our last conversation, I have ob- 
served several words in the book of Psalms, which 
I have never been able to understand. 

Uncle. Repeat some of them. 

Ernest. I mean such words as Michtam, Aije- 
leth-Shahar, Shoshan-eduth, Selah, &e. 

Uncle. I perceive your difficulty. Most of these 
words occur in the titles of the Psalms, and they 
were left untranslated, because their signification 
could not be ascertained. If you read in a Reference 
Bible such as I have been describing, you will find 
in the margin the probable translation of many of 
these words. They are Hebrew words. Some of 
them are thought to refer to the contents of the 
psalm. Others are supposed to point out tunes or 
musical instruments. No word has ever perplexed 
^earned critics more than Selah, which is found 



TO THE SCRIPTURES* 169 

seventy times in the Psalms, and three times in 
Habakkuk. Some of the wisest Jews have sup- 
posed it to be both a musical note, and a sign that 
there is something in the sense particularly deserv- 
ing of the reader's meditation. But I should have 
to make a commentary if I were to dwell on the 
explanation of these difficulties, and must, therefore, 
advise you to look into the best notes on the Scrip- 
tures which you may have at hand. 

Yoa will also find in various parts of the Eng- 
lish Bible, words which have either been left just 
as they are in the original, or only changed so far 
as to give them an English sound. Thus Hosanna, 
which means, Save, we pray thee; Alleluia, 
or Hallelujah, which means Praise the Lord ; 
Tirshatha, which means governor ; Amen, which 
means verily, or be it so ; Sabaoth, which means 
armies; Raca, which means ivorthless ftllow; 
Belial, which means abandoned ivickedness : 
Proselyte, which means a convert from the Gen- 
tiles ; Phylacteries, which is the Greek for a 
superstitious inscription ; Baptism, and Baptize, 
of which the precise signification is a matter of dif- 
ference among good Christians. However strange 
it may seem to find so many foreign words left un- 
translated by these learned men, you ought to be 
informed that the preceding versions, and also the 
15 



170 *N INTRODUCTION 

English versions now used by Roman Catholics, 
have a great many more. 

Hilary, Will you be so obliging as to mention 
some of them ? 

Uncle. Here are some of them : Parasceve, for 
preparation ; Holocaust, for whole burnt-offering ; 
Pasche, for passover; Azymes, for unleavened 
bread ; Paraclete, for Comforter ; Neophyte, for a 
new convert; and many more. 

Hilary. After all, uncle, I have some things still 
to inquire about. There are several places in the 
Bible where the expressions seem to me to be very 
odd ; so much so that I have often been ready to 
smile. 

Uncle. Perhaps I foresee what you mean ; and 
if I do not mistake, you will find almost all these 
odd expressions to be phrases which were good 
English two hundred years ago, but which have 
now become obsolete. 

Hilary. Pray, uncle, what do you mean by obso- 
lete ? 

Uncle. That which is worn out of use is obsolete. 
Any word which has ceased to be commonly used 
is said to be an obsolete word. Our language is 
perpetually changing ; old words are going into 
disuse, and new words are coming in by hundreds. 
So that no one need wonder that a book two centu- 
ries old .should contain many expressions whiei 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 17l 

are now obsolete. Some of these words are no 
longer used at all ; others of them are no longer 
used in the same sense. 

Hilary. I should like to have a specimen of such 
words ; for I believe you have really hit upon just 
•vhat I was about to say. 

Uncle. It is easy to gratify you, as I have a list 
already made out. Although it is not complete, 1 
hope it will answer your purpose. 

OBSOLETE EXPRESSIONS IN THE ENGLISH BIBLE. 

Advisement. — Counsel, information. 1 Chron. 
=xii. 19. — Still used in law. 

All to. — Quite. Judg. ix. 53. — In the genuine 
English copies, it is printed all too. In Chaucer 
and Milton it is al-to. 

Artillery. — Weapons. Bows and arrows. 1 
Sam. xx. 40. 

Bewray. — Betray, make known. Prov. xxvii 
16 ; xxix. 24. Isa. xvi. 3. Matt. xxvi. 73. — It is 
used by Spencer and Addison. 

Bruit. — Report, yioise. Jer. x. 22. Nah. iii. 19. 

Carriage. — Luggage, baggage. Acts xxi. 15, 
•' We took up our carriages, and went up to Jeru- 
salem." Judg. xvii. 21. 1 Sam. xvii. 22, "David 
left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the 
carriage" 

Chapt. — Cleft, opened Jer. xiv. 4. 



172 AN INTRODUCTION 

Coney. — Rabbit. Lev. xi. 5. Deut. xiv. 4. Ps- 
civ. 18. Prov. xxx. 26. 

Corn. — Grain. — In America we employ the 
word corn exclusively to signify maize, or Indian 
corn. But in England it denotes any grain of 
which bread is made, such as wheat, rye, barley, &e 

Cote. — Cot, cabin, enclosure. 1 Sam. xxiv. 3 
2 Sam. vii. 8. 1 Chron. xvii. 7. 2 Chron. xxxii. 28 

Daysman. — Umpire, judge, referee. Job ix. 33 

Ear. — Plough, or Till. — This word cornea 
from the Saxon earrion, to plough. Gen. xlvi. 6 
" Neither earing nor harvest." Ex. xxxiv. 21 
Deut. xxi. 4. 2 Sam. viii. 21. Isa. xxxi. 24. Ix 
is found in Shakspeare. The old word earabh 
was used for arable. 

Goodman. — Master. Matt. xx. 11. 

Hale. — Haul, drag. Luke xii. 58. Acts viii. 3. 
— Used by Shakspeare and Milton. 

His. — Its. — The possessive pronoun " its" is 
not used in the English version. Gen. i. 25, &c. 

Kerchief. — Head-dress. Ezek. xiii. 18 — 21, 

Leasing. — Lying. Ps. iv. 2 ; v. 6. 

Neesings. — Sneezings. Job xli. 18. 

Or ever. — Before. Dan. vi. 24. 

Poll. — The head. Num. i. 2. 18. 20. 22 ; iii. 
47. J Chron. xxiii 3. M. — To poll signifies te 
cut tne hair off the poll or head. 2 Sam. xiv. 26 
Ezek. xliv. 20. Mic. i. 16. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 173 

Prevent. — To go before, to anticipate — This 
word is now always used in the sense of to hinder, 
but in almost every instance in the English Bible it 
signifies to " be beforehand" with some person 
or thing. Ps. lix. 10 ; cxix. 148. Matt. xvii. 25. 
1 Thess. iv. 15. 

Seethe. — Boil. 2 Kings iv. 38. 

Servitor. — Servant. 2 Kings iv. 39. 

Shroud. — Shelter. Ezek. xxxi. 3. 

Silverlings.— Pieces of silver money. Isa.vii.23. 

Sith. — Since. Ezek. xxxv. 6. 

Stead. — Place. 1 Chron. v. 22. 

Strait. — Narrow, close. — This word must be 
carefully distinguished from straight. 2 Kings vi. 
1. Isa. xlix. 20. Matt. vii. 13. Luke xiii. 24. 

Tache. — Loop, hole, latch. Ex. xxvi. 6. 11.33: 
xxxv. 11 ; xxxvi. 13 ; xxxix. 33. 

Thrum. — The ends of weavers' threads. — Used 
in the margin. Isa. xxxviii. 12. It is found in 
Shakspeare. 

Tire. — Attire, dress. 2 Kings ix. 30. Ezek. 
xxiv. 17. 

Whiles. — WJiile. 

Whit. — A particle, an atom. 1 Sam. iii. 18. 
John vii. 33 ; xiii. 10. 2 Cor. xi. 5. 

Wimple. — Veil. Isa. iii. 22. 

Wit, or Wot. — Know. 2 Cor. viii. 1. %< We 
do you to wit," signifies " We inform you." 
15* 



174 AN INTKODTTCTION 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Certain preliminary knowledge which is necessary in order 
understand the Scriptures — Supposed case of a Chinese Life 
of Washington — Ancient geography — Chronology — Manners 
and customs of the East. 

On a pleasant winter's evening, after the boys 
had been spending most of the day in a sleigh-ride , 
to a neighbouring village, they were called into 
their uncle's study. The windows were closed, 
and a bright fire was burning on the hearth. The 
sofa was wheeled round, and two cheerful lamps 
were placed upon a table, which was covered with 
books, maps, and pictures. Uncle Austin signified 
that he wished them to take their seats on each 
side of him, and Ernest and Hilary awaited, with 
faces of happy expectation, the instructions which 
seemed to be prepared for them. Their good 
'eacher began as follows : 

Uncle. My lads, are you fond of history ? 

Hilary. O yes, sir, we have read several histo 
/ies. 

Uncle. What histories have you read ? 

Ernest. I can hardly tell you, without consider- 
ing, they are so many. There is Goldsmith's His- 
tory of Greece, and of Rome, and of England ; and 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 175 

Scott s Tales of a Grandfather ; and the History 
of the Jews. 

Hilary. Yes, and Irving' s Life of Columbus* 
and the Life of General Washington. 

Uncle, All very good. Now let me ask you a 
question or two. Which of these do you like the 
most ? 

Ernest. I think I like the last one best. 

Hilary. I am sure I do. Washington was the 
father of his country. I love to read about him — I 
love to see his very name. We have read his life 
three or four times over. 

Uncle. Very well. Now suppose this history 
should last for three thousand years from this time. 
Suppose the English language in which it is writ- 
ten should cease to be spoken. And suppose that 
certain people on the other side of the globe, for 
example in China, should by some means get a 
copy of this same Life of Washington ; do you 
think they would receive as much pleasure from it 
as you now receive ? 

Ernest. O no ! certainly not. 

Uncle. And why not ? 

Ernest. Because they would not be able to un 
derstand English. 

Uncle. But suppose some very learned man 
should translate it into Chinese ; do you think the 



176 AN INTRODUCTION 

youth of China would take as much pleasure in i\ 
as you do in the original ? 

Hilary. I do not know. It is a thing I nevei 
thought of before. 

Ernest. No, sir; they would find it hard to 
know what it meant ; and I imagine they could not 
feel much interest in it. 

Uncle. What difficulty would they have in un- 
derstanding it, supposing it were in their own lan- 
guage ? 

Ernest. Why, perhaps they would not know 
any thing about America, and the history is almost 
all about things in America. When they read about 
the battles of Yorktown, and Princeton, and Tren- 
ton, they would not know where these places were, 
or how far they were from one another. 

Uncle. Exactly so ; and the only way to com- 
prehend these things would be, to give them some 
idea of American geography. Now do you not 
suppose that there are many readers of the English 
Bible, who know quite as little about the geogra- 
phy of Palestine and other eastern countries ? 

Ernest. No doubt there are many such. 1 am 
afraid I am one of the sort myself; for in reading 
the Bible, I find myself often at a loss to know 
where the events which are related took place. 

Uncle. Now you have come exactly to the place 
whither I was leading you. I like to make you 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 177 

teach yourself. Impress this point on your mind, 
that Sacred Geography is of the utmost importance, 
in order to render the Scriptures either plain or 
profitable. This is the first thing we have learned 
this evening. 

Many persons read the Bible, year after year, 
without ever taking the trouble to inquire where- 
about the places mentioned in it are situated. Yet 
there are numerous passages which have little 
meaning to one who does not attend to the geogra- 
phy ; and other passages which have peculiar 
beauty when we have the whole position of the 
scene in our minds. 

Ernest. Please to mention one or two of these. 

Uncle. I will give you an example of the ad- 
vantages of biblical geography. You have often 
read the account of the journeyings of the Israelites. 

Ernest. O yes ! They travelled from Egypt 
into Canaan. 

Hilary. Yes, and they were forty years making 
this journey. 

Uncle. Now did you ever take notice of the 
direction in which they travelled ? 

Ernest. Let me consider. Egypt lies south- 
west of Canaan. Indeed, I never thought much 
about it, but I suppose they must have travelled 
owards the northeast. 

Uncle. And how far was it from the northeast 



178 AN INTRODUCTION 

part of Egypt to the part of Canaan which they 
first entered ? 

Ernest, I never thought of the distance. 

Uncle. I will show you. Look at this little 
map. Here is a view of the track of the Israelites, 
nstead of going directly towards the northeast, you 
see they made a great circuit. 

First they went southeast to the Red Sea. Then 
they pursued their way still more towards the south, 
along one branch of the Red Sea. Then they turned 
towards the north by Mount Sinai, through the 
Desert of Paran. Then to the northeast, until they 
approached the southern part of Palestine. Here 
they might have entered ; but the Lord caused them 
to turn directly back, and journey southward again, 
by Mount Hor, to the point of the eastern branch 
of the Red Sea. Then they turned northward once 
more, and pursued that general direction until they 
came to their journey's end. 

Ernest. And this is the reason why they were 
so long in making the journey ? 

Uncle. Yes. At some of these places they were 
made to remain months, and perhaps years. Much 
of the time they were wandering about in the wilder- 
ness. So that they were forty years in accom- 
plishing a journey which they might otherwise 
have accomplished in forty days. 

Ernest. I L&ve often thought, in reading the 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 179 

history of the apostle Paul, that I should be very 
glad to have a map in which I could see the course 
which he took in his voyages and travels. 

Uncle, There are many such maps ; and I have 
several in which there are lines showing how he 
went from place to place in his five principal jour- 
neys. One of these maps has each of these tracks 
marked with a distinct colour, which prevents all 
confusion.* I would advise you, whenever you 
study the Scriptures, to have at hand good maps of 
all the places named ; and also a plan of the city 
of Jerusalem, such as you see over the fire- 
place. Examine these carefully ; seek out all the 
principal places ; and by degrees you will get these 
so fixed in your mind, that you will scarcely need 
your maps any more. 

Ernest. I see very plainly that a knowledge of 
the places mentioned in Scripture is very neces- 
sary. 

Uncle. Perhaps I may find time to speak moie 
argely on this subject. At present, it is sufficient 
to repeat what I just said, that you ought to make 
it a point to learn where every place lies, concern- 
ing which you read in the Bible. This can be ac- 
quired with less labour and in less time than you 

* Maps of this kind are published by the American Sun- 
day-school Uniou 



ISO AN INTRODUCTION 

now suppose. The knowledge of biblical geogra- 
phy will make many dark places clear. It will 
enable you to accompany the personages in sacred 
history in all their travels ; and, besides adding tc 
your delight in the word of God, will fix what you 
read in your memory. 

But let me return to the supposition about the 
Chinese version of Washington's Life. Suppose 
some young mandarin in the city of Nankin should 
be busily engaged in the perusal of this volume, 
and suppose likewise, that by the help of some mis- 
sionary he had been able to acquire a little notion 
of American geography, would every thing then 
become plain ? 

Hilary. I imagine many things might be a great 
deal plainer than they could have been before, but 
still he might not be able to tell exactly when all 
these events happened. Uncle, am I not right ? 

Uncle. You are, my dear boy. And this know- 
ledge of when such and such things happened, 
is precisely the thing I wish you to consider. This 
knowledge of the time when events took place 
is what is called Chronology Chronology teaches 
the times when all great histoncal facts occurred. 
Sacred chronology, or biblical chronology, teaches 
the times when those events which the Bible re- 
lates occurred. 

Ernest. So we have another important thing to 
learn, besides geography. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 181 

Uncle, Yes. Fix it well in your mind ; that 
biblical chronology is of great importance in order 
id render the Scriptures either plain or profitable. 
This is the second thing we have learned this 
evening. 

When 1 was a boy, I read much in the Bible. 
Mid finding the book of Matthew placed imme- 
diately after the book of Malachi, that is, finding 
the New Testament beginning just where the Old 
Testament ends, I never dreamed that there was a 
period of more than four hundred years between 
the writing of these two books. 

Hilary, Four hundred years ! Can it be pos- 
sible ? 

Uncle, It is truly so. And during this period, 
some most important events took place. But I can- 
not dwell on these at present. I will take another 
example. How many years is it since Jesus 
Christ was born ? 

Hilary, Eighteen hundred and thirty-eight. 

Uncle, Very well : so it is, according to the 
common reckoning. Now, would it not help you 
to understand the gospel, if you knew exactly how 
long this was after the creation — how many years 
before Jerusalem was destroyed — how many years 
after the great city of Rome was built? Also, 
would it not be very pleasant to know what was 
happening in other parts of the world at this very 
16 



182 AN INTRODUCTION 

time — what kings were reigning — what great gene- 
rals were alive — who were the learned men — and 
the like ? 

Ernest. 0, I see at once how much good this 
would do, though I never thought of it before. 

Uncle. Very well. Chronologers have made 
f ists of all great events, putting down the times 
when they occurred. These lists are called chro- 
nological tables. Some of them are so large as to 
fill great volumes. Others are smaller, and record 
only the principal events ; and some are made still 
smaller, so as to give only what is necessary foi 
the understanding of the Bible. 

If you look at this large chronological map 01 
table, you will perceive several interesting particu- 
lars about the time of our Lord's incarnation. For 
example, Christ was born seven hundred and fifty- 
three years after the building of Rome ; seventy 
years before the destruction of Jerusalem. 

At this time, Augustus had been reigning more 
than twenty-six years as Roman emperor. Virgil 
had been dead fourteen years, Horace three years, 
Livy and Ovid were still alive. The Romans were 
at peace with all nations, and continued so for about 
three years. All this is interesting, and I migh* 
tell you many more things which were remarkable 
at that very time. All this is to be found in books 
of chronology. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 183 

Hilary, But must we read through all these 
great, dry volumes ? 

Uncle. I hope, before long we shall have some 
pleasant tables of chronology, prepared for the use 
of Bible scholars. But our common Bibles give 
us much assistance on these very points. I have- 
frequently told you how desirable it is to read the 
Scriptures in an edition that has every thing in it 
which the excellent translators furnished, namely, 
the marginal notes and readings, the references, 
and the dates. These dates answer the purpose 
of a chronological table. Open the Bible which 
lies on the stand, and tell me what edition it is. 

Ernest. It is a stereotype edition, printed at 
New York, for the American Bible Society, in the 
year 1834. 

Uncle. Look at the bottom of f he title-page on 
the left hand, and you will find a few small letters. 

Ernest. I see them ; they are these, \2mo. ref. 

Uncle. That means duodecimo Reference Bible. 
It is an excellent Bible for those whose eyes are 
good. For elderly people there is a larger one, of 
the size called octavo ; and another still larger, of 
the size called quarto. Ail these are exactly alike 
except in size and shape. Now look at the top 
of the middle column, and you will observe the 
dates. 

Ernest. Yes, I see them. Now I understand 



J 84 AN INTRODUCTION 

you, and I will take care to observe these whenevei 
I read. 

Uncle. But now I have still another question to 
propose. If the young Chinese scholar were well 
informed as to the part of the world where Wash- 
ington lived, and the exact time of his birth and 
death ; do you think this would remove all difficul- 
ties m reading the history ? In other words, would 
he be likely to understand the book as well as one 
relating to his own country ? 

Ernest. I think not. There would still be one 
difficulty. I scarcely know how to express my- 
self; but every thing in this country is so different 
from what it would be China, that I think he would 
be at some loss to know what the book meant. 

Uncle. Explain yourself more fully. 

Ernest. I mean this ; our dress is different from 
that of China. The young Chinese would not un- 
derstand the names if our garments. Our houses 
and roads are different ; our religion is different ; 
and our government is different ; so that I do not 
see how he could perfectly understand the book 
without information on these subjects. 

Uncle. You have discovered exactly what ] 
meant. In order to understand any work, it is 
necessary that we should be acquainted with the 
manners and customs of the people to whom it 
•-elates. Now observe, the books which compose 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 185 

tne Bible were written some centuries ago ; and 
they relate to a people whose manner of life was 
exceedingly unlike our own. The inhabitants of 
the East differ greatly in their manners from the 
people of Europe and America ; and every book 
in the Bible abounds in allusions to these peculiari- 
ties. In order to arrive at what the Scriptures 
mean, we must therefore make ourselves acquainted 
with the particulars in which the life and habits o. 
the Orientals vary from our own. This is called 
Oriental Antiquities ; or, with reference to the Bi- 
ble, Biblical Antiquities. In our next conversa- 
tion, I will give you a number of interesting facts 
on this subject. 

Before we separate for the evening, let me see 
whether you remember what I have been teaching 
you. I have mentioned to you three things, the 
knowledge of which is necessary in order to the 
intelligent study of the Scriptures. What are these 
three things ? 

Hilary. First, Biblical Geography. 

Secondly, Biblical Chronology. 
Thirdly, Biblical Antiquities. 

Uncle. Very well answered. And now we shall 
prepare for our evening worship, for I suppose you 
begin to think of going to rest. 
16* 



1S5 AN INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER XV. 

Illustrates from Biblical Antiquities — Difference betweea 
eastern and western manners — Oriental houses — Posture at 
meais- Manner of sitting — Eastern dress — Girdles — Eastern 
bottles- -Tear-bottles — Funerals — Phylacteries. 

Thb lutle boys remembered the promise of their 
uncle, that in the next conversation he would pro- 
ceed to give them some interesting particulars about 
the customs of the East. They hastened into his 
study the next morning at an earlier hour than 
usual, to remind him of his engagement, and were 
received by him with a smiling countenance. H*s 
large table was covered with heavy books, pictures, 
and a number of curiosities which looked as if they 
had come out of a museum. Ernest and Hilary 
seated themselves near the cheerful fire, and the 
£Ood old gentleman began thus : 

Uncle, I am now about to tell you a number of 
things w T hich will be very entertaining ; and which 
relate to the antiquities of the Hebrews. I have 
on this table several books written by learned men 
who have travelled in the Holy Land and other 
eastern countries. Here are likewise a number 
of large plates which will give you a good idea of 
many objects spoken of in Scripture ; and besides 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 1S7 

6everal of the real things, which you shall presently 
have in your hands. 

Hilary. O that will be delightful ! 

Uncle. Observe it is not my purpose merely to 
amuse you, but to impress on your minds this 
principle, that a knowledge of the manners and 
customs of the East throws great light upon the 
Scriptures. 

Every nation has its own manners and customs, 
differing more or less from those of all other na- 
tions. Those people who live furthest apart are 
generally most unlike. The inhabitants of a very 
warm climate are very different from those of a 
cold climate. The habits and practices of the same 
people greatly vary during the course of one or two 
thousand years. We should, therefore, expect to 
find the people mentioned in the Bible differing 
in many important respects from ourselves. I am 
about to mention a few of these differences ; it 
would take me weeks to mention them all. Books 
of travels and works on antiquities will teach you 
all that is necessary for you to know. Bear this 
always in mind when you are reading the Scrip- 
tures, that you must, as far as possible, forget the 
peculiarities of our own time and nation, and try 
to feel as if you were Hebrews. 

Hilary. I suppose they never had such cold 
weather as this in Judea. 



188 AN INTRODUCTION 

Uncle. Not for any length of time. Although 
the nights are often cold, yet snow and ice are very 
rare. It maybe called a hot climate. The part of 
the land which lies on the Mediterranean is often 
fanned with cooling breezes ; and there is a refresh- 
ing atmosphere upon the mountains ; but in the vale 
of Jordan, and other inland parts, it is often exces- 
sively hot. In our climate, we never can foretell 
when it will rain ; but in Palestine the rain falls 
periodically. They have what they call the former 
and the latter rain, and these last for many days to- 
gether. They are sometimes so severe as to beat 
down the houses of the poor, which are often made 
of palm branches, mud, and tiles, dried in the sun. 

Ernest. That puts me in mind of what our Sa- 
viour says : " And the rains descended, and the 
floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon 
that house, and it fell, and great was the fall 
thereof."* 

Uncle. Very true ; and thus you see how the 
knowledge of this fact explains the text. But 
there are a thousand such cases. 

Hilary. Be so good as to mention a few of the 
things in which we differ from the Hebrews 

Uncle. That is what I propose to do. In the 
first place, our way of living is very unlike their' s 

* Matt. vii. 27. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 1S9 

We live altogether in solid houses, of brick, stone, 
or strong wood. The Hebrews, in many cases, 
dwelt in tents, as the Arabs do to this day. 

Hilary, But had they no houses ? 

Uncle. O yes ; but their houses differed very 
much from ours. There are very few wooden 
houses in these countries, because forest trees are 
scarce. There are scarcely any houses of three 
stories, and few of more than one. The outside 
of their houses is very plain, often unsightly, and 
on the side next the street there are few windows, 
and often none at all. 

In America, all our dwellings have sloping roofs ; 
but the Hebrews had flat roofs. They spent much 
of their time on these roofs, which were sometimes 
covered with clay. There were little walls or 
parapets to keep any one from falling off. In our 
houses, the only way of getting to the roof is 
through the inside of the building ; but the Hebrew 
houses often had stairs on the outside leading to 
the housetop. And this way explains what our 
Lord means when he says, " Let him which is on 
the housetop not come down to take any thing out 
of his house."* The Hebrews used to sleep 
during a great part of the year on these flat roofs. 
The Arabs and Syrians do so still. Dr. Pococke, 

* Matt. xxiv. 17. 



190 



AN INTRODUCTION 



(who wrote this large work,) tells us, that " when 
ne was at Tiberias in Galilee, he was entertained 
by the sheik's (or governor's) steward, and thai 
they supped on the top of the house for coolness, 
according to their custom, and lodged there like 
wise, in a sort of closet, about eight feet square, of 
a wicker work, plastered round toward the bottom, 
but without any door, each person having his cell." 
This was in the month of May. 

In our houses we have fire-places and chimneys ; 
the Hebrews had nothing of the sort. IN either had 
they any thing like our glass windows Another 




TO THE SCRIPTURES. i9I 

peculiarity in the eastern houses is, that they gene- 
rally have a considerable space in the middle of 
them, which is open at the top. This is called the 
inner court. In the centre of this, rich persons 
sometimes had one or more fountains playing, ab 
seen in the engraving. 

Ernest. All this would seem very strange to us ■ 
yet I remember several things in the Scriptures 
which this explains. 

Uncle. Moreover, when you enter an eastern 
house, you find every thing very unlike what you 
are accustomed to. We usually take three meals 
a day, the Hebrews took but two. We sit upon 
chairs around a table. The Orientals, properly 
speaking, have neither chair nor table. They sit 
on the floor, or on a mat, cushion, or very low 
seat, and have the food placed near them in trays 
or on boards. We use knives and forks. The He- 
brews used neither, but thrust their hands into the 
iish, and pulled the meat apart with their fingers. 

Hilary. This does not seem to me to be very 
cleanly. 

Uncle. You must remember that the Orientals 
keep their hands exceedingly clean. Besides their 
>ther ablutions, they carefully wash their hands 
before and after every meal. 

Ernest. But do not the eastern people make 
any use of chairs ? 



192 AN INTRODUCTION 

Uncle. No. The rooms of those who are 
wealthy are furnished with costly carpets or mats* 
and on these they sit down cross-legged. But 
along the wall of the room, there is frequently 
a little stage or platform, raised a few inches, or 
perhaps a foot or two, and here they have then 
beds ; here they also sometimes sit or recline during 
the day. This is called the divan. The most 
honourable place is in the corner. 

Ernest. But I think I have been told that the 
ancients used to lie down at their meals. 

Uncle. In early times the Hebrews did not 
practise this method, but it certainly was in use at 
the time of our Saviour's ministry, and was proba- 
bly borrowed from the Greeks and Romans. The 
early Greeks and Romans used to sit at their meals, 
but after they became more luxurious they intro- 
duced this way of reclining at table. In a beautiful 
picture under article Feast, in the Union Bible 
Dictionary, you have the representation of a Roman 
company reclining at a feast. You will see many 
of them have their heads adorned with wreaths, 
which was customary when they drank wine. 
You will also see gladiators, or swordsmen, fighting 
for the amusement of the company ; a cruel enter- 
tainment practised among the Romans. The Jews 
in our Saviour's time, following this example, used 
to lie on long couches, like sofas, when they ate 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. l93 

These coaci.es were covered with soft cushions 
and pillows They lay on the left side, and in 
eating used only the right hand. As they thus lay 
around the table, their feet would of course extend 
oack from it, so that a person might go around the 
company, and touch the feet of every one at the 
table. In this way, the woman in the gospel came 
behind and washed our Lord's feet with her tears. 
When they reclined near to one another, one per- 
son often leaned on the bosom of the next. In this 
way the beloved disciple leaned upon the bosom of 
Christ. But you will comprehend this w T hole sub- 
ject better by means of a picture which you will 
find under article Eat in the Union Bible Diction- 
ary. There you will plainly see how the feet of 
any guest might be approached ; and also how any 
person, reclining near one of the corners, might be 
said to lie in the bosom of the next one. 

Ernest. I have observed in reading the Bible 
that the dress of the eastern people is very different 
from ours. 

Uncle. Yes, so much so that there are many 
passages of Scripture which it is scarcely possible 
to understand without a knowledge of the ancient 
oriental apparel. The dress of those countries is 
adapted to a warm climate ; and it is observed that 
they do not change their fashions every few months, 



17 



194 AN INTRODUCTION 

as we do but wear very much the same sort of 
clothes from age to age. 

We are accustomed to see people clothed in gar- 
ments which are cut rather tight, so as to show the 
shape ; but the Hebrews were more fond of flow- 
ing robes, for men as well as women. We wear 
hats, but the Orientals wear turbans, or other head- 
dresses of cloth. We are careful to shave off our 
beards ; the Hebrews cherished the beard as their 
greatest ornament and honour. We cover our feet 
with stockings, shoes, and boots ; the Hebrews 
went barefoot, or used light sandals ; in no case 
making use of stockings. The eastern women are 
not content with ear-rings, but wear precious rings 
in the nose also. They colour their eyelids and 
their nails, and have ornaments upon their wrists 
and ankles. 

Ernest. We read a great deal about the girdle ; 
what was it like ? 

Uncle. As the garments of the Hebrews hung 
about them in a loose and flowing manner, they 
needed some sort of band or belt to keep them in 
place. This was the girdle. In the house this 
was seldom necessary, but when they were at work, 
or on a journey, or going to battle, their long robes 
would have been a great hinderance, unless tney 
were tucked up and secured by this band. 

Whenever a man was in great haste or activity, 



TO THE SCRIPTURES 195 

lie fastened the girdle closely around his body ; this 
was called " girding up the loins." So when Eli* 
j ah predicted the rain, he " girded up his loins 
and ran before Ahab."* And when our Saviour 
was about to wash the feet of his disciples, " he 
took a towel and girded himself."! 

Hence girding the loins came to be used to mean 
preparation for active service. Thus Christ says 
to his disciples, " let your loins be girt about, and 
your lights burning;"."!: that is, be in a state of con- 
stant preparation. 

Hilary. There is a verse in the gospel of Mat- 
thew which I never could understand, and I wish 
you would explain it to me. It is said, " Neither 
do men put new wine into old bottles ; else the 
bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the 
bottles perish : but they put new wine into new 
bottles, and both are preserved. "§ I never could 
see why an old bottle should break because it had 
new wine in it. 

Uncle. Here is a case that shows how necessary 
it is to have some knowledge of eastern customs. 
If the bottles meant were of glass or earth, such as 
we use, the text would be without meaning ; and 
some ignorant infidels have ridiculed it as being 

* 1 Kings xviii. 46. \ John xiii. 4. 

* Luke xii. 36. § Matt. ix. 17. 



196 AN INTRODUCTION 

absurd. But the Hebrews used a sort of bottle 
with which we have no acquaintance ; their bottles 
were of skins. 

Hilary. Of skins ! I never heard of such a thing. 

Uncle. It is nevertheless true ; and the eastern 
people use the same in our day. They prepare 
the skin of a kid or goat in such a Avay as to make 
it hold liquids, and iind them very convenient. 
Let me read you a passage from the travels of Sir 
John Chardin. 

" They put into these goat and kid skin vessels 
every thing which they want to carry to a distance 
in the East, whether dry or liquid, and very rarely 
make use of boxes and pots, unless it be to pre- 
serve such things as are liable to be broken. The 
reason is, their making use of beasts of carriage for 
conveying these things, who often fall down under 
their loading, or throw it down ; and also because 
it is in pretty thin woollen sacks that they enclose 
what they carry. There is another advantage, too. 
in putting the necessaries of life in these skin ves- 
sels : they are preserved fresher." 

I will now show you a little picture from 
the Antiquities of Herculaneum. Here you see a 
woman pouring wine into a cup from just such a 
bottle. You may perceive that after the skin has 
been taken from the animal, and suitably dressed, 
the places where the legs were have been stopped 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 



197 




up. This cut will give you a better idea of an 
ancient bottle than any description of mine. 

This will enable you to understand another pas- 
sage which occurs in the book of Joshua. You 
remember that when the Israelites were destroying 
the nations of Canaan, the people of Gibeon came 
to Joshua, and pretended that they lived at a much 
greater distance than the others. They came with 
old tattered clothes, " and wine-bottles, old and 
rent, and bound up. 99 * Now a person ignorant of 
what I have been telling you could not comprehend 
how a bottle could be torn, or bound up; but all 
this is very intelligible when you learn that these 
bottles were made, not of glass, but of skin. 

Hilary. But still, uncle, I do not see why the 



* Josh. ix. 4. 13. 
17* 



198 AN INTRODUCTION 

putting of new wine into an old skin should 
break it. 

Uncle. Let me explain this. When wine is new 
it ferments, and every fermenting liquor swells, 
and requires more room. This is what causes so 
many porter-bottles to burst. Now if this new 
wine be put into a fresh, new skin, which is soft 
and flexible, the skin will yield and stretch as the 
liquor swells with fermentation, and no injury will 
be done. But if the same lively liquor be pul mto 
bottles of old skins, which have become dry and 
stiffened, they will not be able to stretch and make 
room, but will crack and burst, and let the wine 
run out. 

Ernest. O, how plain that makes it ! I am de- 
termined to read a great deal more about Hebrew 
customs. I had no idea that it was so entertaining. 

Uncle. Indeed there are few studies so truly 
amusing as well as instructive. Besides, you may 
be pursuing these inquiries all your life. I never 
meet with a new book of travels in the East which 
does not add something to my knowledge of the 
Bible. 

I will now ask you a question or two : What 
does the psalmist mean wnen he says, I am become 
as a bottle in the smoke ?* 

* Ps. cxix. 83, 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 199 

Ernest, I suppose he means that he was with- 
ered and wrinkled by care and distress, just as a 
goat-skin bottle is drawn up and injured by being 
smoked. 

Uncle, Very well : here is another question. 
David addresses God, in prayer, thus : Put thou 
my tears into thy bottle.* What does this mean ? 

Ernest. I confess I have no idea. 

Hilary r~Nor I. 

Uncle. The allusion here is to a very singular 
custom of the ancients. We are not well informed 
of what the Hebrews did, but the Greeks and Ro- 
mans, when they wept for the death of any dear 
friend, used to catch the tears in little phials, and 
offer them upon the tomb of the deceased. These 
were called lacrymatories, or tear-vessels. In 
opening tombs in Italy many of these lacrymatories 
have been found. I remember to have seen several 
in Peale's Museum at Philadelphia ; and I have 
examined pictures of a great many. They were 
made sometimes of baked earth, sometimes of glass, 
and sometimes of precious stones, such as agate or 
sardonyx. The meaning, therefore, of the psalm- 
ist's prayer is, ' Remember my griefs, as the tears 
of mourners are preserved.' 

I will now show you cuts of two Roman lacry 
matories, found near Naples. 

* Vs. lvi. 8. 



200 



AN INTRODUCTION 





Hilary. They seem to have had very strange 
customs at their funerals. 

Uncle. Yes, the ancient methods of showing grief 
were very different from ours, and far more violent. 
Every eastern funeral is attended by a great number 
of women, who fill the air with shrieks and wait- 
ings. Sometimes persons are hired for this pur- 
pose. Every passenger who goes along thinks it 
meritorious to join in these lamentations. Perhaps 
this may explain a text in Jeremiah : "Call for the 

mourning women, that they may come; 

and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for 
us, that our eyes may run down with tears, antf 
our eyelids gush out with waters."* 

Ernest. There is something like this in the Gos 



* Jer. ix. 17, 19. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 201 

pels where Christ went to bring to life the daugh- 
ter of a certain ruler. When he came into the 
house, he " saw the minstrels and the people mak- 
ing i noise."* But what were the minstrels ? 

Uncle. The word translated minstrels signifies 
players on the flute or pipe. These were em- 
ployed at funerals, to play mournful tunes. Jose- 
phus tells us of a great mourning at which "many 
hired pipers led the way in the wailings."t 

Hilary. While you are talking about Hebrew 
customs, I beg you will explain to me one word 
which has always perplexed me very much. Our 
Saviour says of the Pharisees : " They make broad 
their phylacteries."% 

I do not know the meaning of this word. 

Uncle. This word occurs only in this one text. 
It means a preservative, or amulet, and the thing 
was used by the superstitious Jews to protect them 
from evil. The phylacteries were little boxes or 
rolls of parchment which they wore about their 
persons ; sometimes on their foreheads, and some- 
times on their wrists. These little articles had 
texts of the law written on them ; especially four 
passages. § 

* Matt. ix. 23. -j- Josephus* Wars, book iii. 

i Matt, xxiii. 

§ Ex. xiii. 2—10 ; 11—16. Deut. vi. 1—9; xi. 13—21. 



202 AN INTRODUCTION 

Hilary Why did they wear these texts on theii 
persons ? 

Uncle In this, as in innumerable instances, they 
unwisely took the commands of the law in their 
most literal signification. You may remember that 
the Lord had spoken thus to them : " And it shall 
be for a sign upon thy hand, and for a memorial 
between thine eyes :"* and again, " Thou shalt bind 
them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be 
as frontlets between thine eyes."t In consequence 
of misunderstanding these texts, the Pharisees 
actually fastened fragments of the law upon their 
bodies. They were written on little pieces of 
parchment, which were rolled up, or enclosed in 
small square boxes, both being tied on with strings. 
You will have a good idea of them by looking al 
the engraving under article Phylacteries in Union 
Bible Dictionary. Those Pharisees who wished 
to make a great show of their religion used to weai 
these hypocritical ornaments very large ; and il 
was this which our Saviour intended to rebuke 
For the reverence which we ought to feel for the 
word of God, is not to be displayed by wearing 
parts of it on our face and hands ; but by loving it, 
studying it, and conforming ourselves to its holy 
contents. 



* Ex. xiii. 9. f Deu( n, 8. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 203 

I hope I have now said enough to show you the 
great importance of being acquainted with biblical 
antiquities. It is a delightful study, and a numoer 
of books have been published, which contain all 
the facts which it is necessary for you to know. 
These you may read as you grow older. 

Ernest* My dear uncle, we have now been here 
more than three weeks, and in a few days we shall 
have to return to New York. I have been think- 
ing how pleasant it would be, if you would give us 
a iew directions for reading the Scriptures. These 
would be very useful to us, when we are at home. 

Uncle, The same thought has occurred to 
my own mind, and I have actually prepared a 
paper containing a number of directions, which 
you and Hilary may copy, and take home with 
vou. But more oi this to-morrow. 



204 AN INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Rules for the reading of Scripture : — The Bible must be read an 
the Word of God — With prayer for divine light — Diligently— 
Patientl}- — Attentively — With faith — With obedience — With 
self-application — With fervour — At hours of devotion — With 
Christ always in view — More than other books. 

After having spent most of the day in active 
exercise, the boys hastened into the study, and 
found their uncle seated and waiting for them. He 
took a paper from his desk, and putting on his 
spectacles, began as follows. 

Uncle. My children, I have here a paper con- 
taining a number of directions for the study of the 
Scriptures. But in order that you may be at no 
loss to understand what they mean, I will read 
them over to you, one by one, and explain them. 

Ernest. Suppose we take pen and ink, and 
write them down as you proceed. 

Uncle. Very well. That will be very proper, as 
it will serve to fix them in your memories. 

Now get your paper ready, and we will begin 

Direction I. 
In all your reading of the Bible, bear 
:n mind that it is the Word of God. 

You must never forget that this book is the onlv 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 205 

Sook in the world which has come directly from 
God Holy men of old wrote these things by the 
inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Do you not remem- 
ber a text which teaches this ? 

Hilary. Yes, sir. " All Scripture is given by 
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine 
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in right- 
eousness."* 

Uncle. Therefore you must not read the Scrip- 
tures as you read other books, but with great re- 
verence and sacred awe. It is a message from 
God. If God should send you a message from 
heaven by the hand of any man, would you not re- 
ceive it with great solemnity ? 

Hilary. I think I should tremble with fear. 

Uncle. No doubt ; and such should be our awe 
in approaching the Scriptures. They are messages 
from heaven. If Jesus Christ should write you a 
letter, with his own hand, how would you feel 
when you received it ? 

Ernest. We should be almost afraid to open it ; 
but we should also be very desirous to know what 
it contained. 

Uncle. Yes, and you would read it again and 
again : you would preserve it with the greatest 
care : and you would believe every word of it. So 

* 2 Tim. iii 6. 
IS 



206 * AN INTRODUCTION 

also, if you were invited to go to a certain place 
where you might hear God speaking to you from 
heaven, you would lay aside every careless thought, 
and listen with profound attention. Now we do 
really hear God speaking to us in the Holy Scrip- 
tures. Keep this always in mind. This direction 
is the most important of all I have to give you ; 
indeed, it is the foundation of all the rest. When- 
ever you take this blessed volume into your hands, 
say to yourselves: "This is God's book: I will 
hear what God the Lord will speak."* 

Ernest. That reminds me of what I have read 
in the History of England, about that pious young 
king, Edward the Sixth. He was once playing 
with some of his companions, and wished to take 
down something from a shelf above his reach. One 
of his playfellows offered him a large book to stand 
upon ; but when King Edward perceived it to 
be a Bible, he refused to use it in that way ; 
and said, it was not proper that he should trample 
under his feet that which he ought to treasure up 
in his head and heart. 

Uncle. This was very well said. Let us be 
careful, however, to reverence not the mere outside 
of the book, but its inspired contents. I will now 
proceed. 

* Psalm lxxxv. 8. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 207 

Direction II. 
Pray for divine aid and illumination. 

The Bible contains many things which are mys- 
terious, and which we could never have found ou» 
for ourselves. We need the assistance of God's 
Holy Spirit to make these things plain to us. Our 
sins darken our minds, so that we are liable to 
make mistakes in religious things ; and some of 
these mistakes are so great that they may even 
ruin the soul. David often prays for this divine 
illumination ; especially in the longest psalm in the 
Bible. Can either of you tell me which that is ? 

Hilary. It is the hundred and ninteenth. 

Uncle. True. David there prays : " Open thou 
mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out 
of thy law." And this is a suitable petition for 
us, whenever we open the Bible. Again, " Make 
me to understand thy precepts : so shall I talk of 
thy wondrous works." " Teach me, Lord, the 
way of thy statutes ; and I shall keep it unto the 
end." 

Without the assistance of God we cannot com- 
prehend spiritual things. Thus it is said : "The 
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit 
of God ; for they are foolishness unto him : neither 



20S AN INTRODUCTION 

can he know them, because they are spiritually dis 
eerned."* 

Pray, my dear children, that the Lord would 
take away this darkness of your minds. The 
teaching of the Holy Spirit will do more to explain 
to you the meaning of the Scriptures, than the best 
human teachers. In this way some very poor men, 
who were ignorant of human science, have become 
wonderfully instructed in the things of God. 

Ernest. Do you mean that we ought to pray 
every time we are going to read in the Bible ? 

Uncle. I do not mean that you should actually 
go down upon your knees, every time you begin 
to read ; although there would be nothing wrong 
in this. But whenever you open the Scriptures, 
it would be well for you to lift up your heart to 
God in prayer, that he would enlighten your 
mind. This you should likewise frequently do in 
the midst of your reading ; and when you close the 
book, you should, in the same manner, beg that the 
Holy Spirit would impress on your heart what you 
have learned 

Direction III. 
Read with patience and self-denial. 

Ernest. What do you mean by reading with 
vatience ? 

* 1 Cor. ii. 14. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 205 

Uncle. By this I mean that you should not 
allow yourself to grow weary, so as to hurry over 
what you read, or lay the book aside. This is an 
important rule, particularly for youth ; who are 
willing enough to read for a little while, but are 
glad to close the volume, and turn to something else. 
Besides this, you may observe that some young 
persons begin to study the Scriptures, and continue 
to do so regularly for a few weeks or months ; but 
at the end of a short period their perseverance fails, 
and they neglect it altogether. You must not 
grow weary of the word of God. You must not 
read by fits and starts. You must not allow any 
thing to draw you away from the habit of con- 
stantly studying it. 

Ernest. What do you mean by reading with 
self-denial. 

Uncle. Self-denial means going against our own 
wishes for the sake of duty. To deny ourselves 
is to do what is not agreeable to us, when we are 
convinced that it is our duty ; or to keep from en- 
joying any thing which we may like, when we are 
convinced that it would be wrong. Sometimes it may 
be the case, that when the time comes which you 
have set for reading the Scriptures, you may be in 
company, or at play, or reading some other book. 
Now you must exercise self-denial by giving up 
18* 



210 AN INTRODUCTION 

these worldly enjoyments for the sake of the Scrip 
tures. Or, while you are actually reading, you 
may be tempted to leave off, for some other em- 
ployment, or for some amusement. Here you 
must exercise self-denial, by persevering in the 
study of the Scriptures. 

Hilary. But what are we to do, if we become 
very weary or sleepy ? Must we read on ? 

Uncle. I think not. What we do under great 
weariness or drowsiness is not usually very profita- 
ble. In such a case, I should advise you to lay 
the book aside ; always taking care, however, to 
make up what you have thus lost, at the earliest 
opportunity. 

Direction IV. 

Read the Scriptures with unbroken at- 
tention. 

Now do you understand this direction ? 

Hilary. It means that we must not be thinking 
of other things while we read. 

Uncle. Yes, this is part of what is meant. Some 
people fall into a habit of reading so carelessly, that 
they do not get a single idea from the words in the 
book. They read as if they were asleep. Make 
them close the book, and tell what the subject is, 
and they are absolutely dumb. The danger ; s 
greatest in books with which we are very familiar. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 211 

Did you never observe that when you have pe, 
rused the same page a great many times, you have 
caught yourselves repeating the words without 
thinking of what they mean ? 

Hilary, O yes, sir ! For when I commit a 
speech to memory, to declaim it at school, I often 
say it all over without once thinking what it is 
about. 

Ernest. And I have often taken notice, in re- 
peating the Lord's prayer, that I go over the whole 
while I am thinking of something else ; because I 
am so familiar with the words. 

Uncle. This is just the fault I wish you to avoid 
in reading the Bible. Read with attention. En- 
deavour to think closely of every thing you read. 
And besides this, let your attention be unbroken. 
I have known a person to begin to read with great 
seriousness ; but if he saw a bird near the window, 
or heard the voice of a playmate, or even thought 
of some favourite sport, his mind would be away 
in a moment ; his attention would be broken. 
Guard against this wandering of thought. It is a 
great evil in all study, but chiefly in the study of 
the Scriptures. 

Ernest. I acknowledge that I am guilty of this 
fault every day ; but I hope I shall endeavour to 
avoid it. 



312 AN INTKODUCTION 

Direction V. 

Endeavour to learn something new from 
every verse before you leave it. 

Hilary. Uncle, this seems to me to be a strange 
rule. 

Uncle. How so, my child ? 

Hilary. Why, sir, if I really know what a verse 
means, how can I get any more from it ? 

Uncle. My dear boy, the Bible is a book very 
rich in meaning. I have read it over many, many 
times ; and yet there is no passage in which, with 
proper attention, I cannot find something new. 
But you are to consider that we often read many 
verses together, without getting any meaning 
whatever. We have been so accustomed to the 
words of Scripture, having read them from our 
early childhood, that we feel satisfied to go over 
the language without learning any thing more about 
the sense. 

I was led to lay down this rule for myself, from 
observing that I derived least profit from those parts 
of Scripture with which I was best acquainted. 
Thus, I often perused the Sermon on the Mount, 
with scarce a thought about its delightful contents. 
I therefore determined, that in my stated reading 
of the Scriptures, I would pause a little upon each 
verse, and not leave it until, if possible, I had 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 213 

learned from it something which did not strike me 
on the first perusal. 

Ernest. But, uncle, it will take one a great while 
lo get through the Bible, at this rate. 

Uncle. Even if it should, it would be far more 
profitable than the ordinary way. But this direc- 
tion applies only to the stated and regular study of 
the Scriptures ; and I shall show you that some- 
times it is desirable to read large portions together 
in a more rapid and cursory manner. Besides, 
you must know that thoughts move very quickly ■ 
we may have a number of thoughts in a second of 
time ; and therefore the delay need not be so great 
as you suppose. There is moreover such a fulness 
of truth and meaning in the blessed Bible, that no 
man can ever say, in this world, of any one pas- 
sage, that he has made himself master of all it 
teaches. 

Ernest. Well, I begin to see more reason in the 
direction ; and shall make trial of it. 

Direction VI. 
Exercise faith on all that you read. 

Faith is belief. We have faith in that which we 
truly, and from the heart, believe. Ought we not 
to believe every word that is in the Bible ? 

Ernest. Yes, because every word is true. We 
should believe every word that God says. 



214 AN INTRODUCTION 

Uncle, Remember the words of the apostle John, 
" If we receive the witness of men, the witness of 
God is greater."* It is not enough to hear or read 
the word of God ; we must believe it. According 
to what the apostle Paul says of the ancient Israel- 
ites, "The word preached did not profit them, not 
being mixed with faith in them that heard it."t 

There is no part of Scripture which can be pro- 
perly read without faith. And this faith must be 
such as shall produce in us the very feelings in- 
tended by the divine Author in revealing the truth. 
Thus, when we read a command, faith will lead us 
to obey ; when we read a threatening, to tremble ; 
when we read a promise, to embrace it. Espe- 
cially, when any thing is written concerning the 
blessed Saviour, faith will accept him, receive him, 
and lean upon him for salvation. 

Often ask yourself, therefore, while you are 
reading, Do I really believe this from the heart ? 
And often lift up your heart with the prayer of the 
apostles, " Lord, increase our faith !" 

Direction VII. 
Read with a willing and obedient mind. 
Ernest. Have you not said something like this 
already ? 

* 1 John v. 9. f Heh - iv - 2 - 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 215 

Uncle. I have, but I wish to call your attention 
more particularly to the duty of reading with an 
obedient disposition. The Bible teaches us chiefly 
two things, first, what we are to believe, and, se- 
condly, what we are to do. The former calls for 
our faith, the latter for our obedience. Whatever 
God commands we are bound to do ; and when we 
read any precept of the Scriptures, we should che- 
rish the most cheerful and ready obedience. With- 
out this, our reading will be of no use to us. This 
;s what the apostle James teaches us: "Be ye 
doers of the word, and not hearers only."* This 
js what our Saviour also teaches in the parable of 
the sower. The good ground represents those 
nearers of the word who bring forth fruit, that is, 
yield obedience to the will of God. Indeed, our 
Lord seems to teach, that without this willing and 
obedient temper, no man can have an assured faith 
in the divine authority of what he learns : "If any 
nan will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, 
whether it be of God, or whether I speak of my- 
self."! You will read the Scriptures with the 
greatest profit, when you are ready to say with 
little Samuel, " Speak, Lord, for thy servant hear- 
eth/'i 



* James i 22. f John vii. 17. 

* 1 Sam. iii. 9. 



216 AN INTRODUCTION 

Ernest. Dear uncle, does every one read the 
Bible in this way ? 

Uncle. Ah no ! I am sorry to say, that many 
read very carelessly ; and some who are very dili- 
gent in studying the word of God, learn it as a 
mere task, just as they would learn any other les- 
son ; and seem never to think that it has any thing 
to do with their own conduct. This leads me to 
lay down another rule. 

Direction VIII. 
Let all that you read be applied to your- 
self IN THE WAY OF SELF-EXAMINATION. 

Ernest. I am afraid I do not know what is meant 
by applying what I read to myself. 

Uncle. I will explain. Whenever you take up 
your Bible, you should say within yourself, Now 
I am going to read the message of God, and I must 
endeavour to gain some improvement from it. So 
you will be ready to turn every thing to some account 
for the profit of your soul. Thus when you read the 
history of any good man, you should try to copy 
his excellences. When you read of any wicked 
act, you should endeavour to avoid the like. When 
you read of any Christian virtue or grace, you 
should inquire whether you possess it, and seek to 
attain it. Take, for instance, the Lord's prayer. 
When you read Forgive us our debts as we for- 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 217 

%ive our debtors ; you should endeavour to offer 
up this prayer with a sincere heart, while you 
read. And in order to do this, you should ask your- 
self, whether you do from the heart forgive all 
those who have done you any evil ; for unless you 
do thus forgive, you cannot truly offer this peti- 
tion.* This is what I mean by self-examination 

By reading in this way, the best men who have 
ever lived have grown more and more holy. 
Every time they read a portion of Scripture, they 
are either convinced of some sin, and thus led to 
repentance ; or awakened to the performance of 
some duty, and thus made more consistent Chris- 
tians. 

Direction IX. 

Seek to have your affections stirred up 
while you read. 

Hilary. What do you mean by affections ? 

Uncle. I mean feelings, such as fear, joy, hope 7 
desire, love, confidence, and the like. 

Ernest. What do you mean by having these 
affections stirred up ? 

Uncle. I mean feeling in a lively manner, or 
having these affections warm and awakened. For 
Instance, at some times when you are employed 

* Matt. v. 44 ; vi. 12. Luke xi. 4. 
19 



218 AN INTRODUCTION 

about other things, you have scarcely any thoughts 
about your dear parents. But when you return 
nome after an absence of some weeks, the sight of 
your father and mother will fill you with affection 
for them; perhaps your eyes will be filled with 
tears ; your love will then be awakened. In other 
words, this affection will be stirred up. Does not 
the thought, even now, give you pleasure ? 

Hilary, O yes, sir ! I long to see them very 
much. 

Uncle. That is, you have a strong desire to see 
them ; now the affection of desire is stirred up in 
your hearts. You also hope to see them before 
long ; and this hope is another affection or feeling 
which is stirred up. 

Most persons read the Scriptures without any 
warmth of feeling. They peruse God's message to 
them as coldly and insensibly as if it were a common 
book. This is what I wish you to avoid. When 
you read of God's anger against sin, you should be 
filled with godly fear. When you read of his 
goodness and mercy, you should be filled with 
gratitude. When you read of his glorious holi- 
ness, you should exercise love. And there is no 
part of the Bible in which there may not be found 
something to awaken some good feeling. Never 
allow yourself to read this blessed volume in a cold; 
unfeeling manner. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 219 

There is no method so proper for awakening 
devout feelings as the reading of the Holy Scrip- 
tures. For this reason, all pious persons have 
made this a part of their private devotions; and 
hence we are led to another important rule. 

Direction X. 
Set apart a special time for devotional 

READING. 

Ernest. Do you mean that we ought to nave a 
certain hour of every day fixed for this purpose ? 

Uncle. Exactly. And by devotional reading 
I mean that reading which is intended not so much 
to communicate fresh knowledge as to warm our 
hearts. The proper time for this will be when 
you retire for private prayer. 

Hilary. Is it best to have particular hours for 
secret prayer 1 

Uncle. I think it is. The holiest men have 
found it so. Otherwise we are apt to neglect the 
duty very often, or to omit it altogether. But if a cer- 
tain hour be fixed, then whenever that hour comes, 
we shall be put in mind of the duty ; and it will 
become habitual, so that we shall not be able to 
omit it without pain. 

Ernest. What parts of the Bible are most pro- 
per at such times ? 

Uncle Those parts which lemand little expla- 



220 AN INTRODUCTION 

nation, being free from difficulty ; and those larts 
which touch our feelings most sensibly. Thus 
ihe Psalms of David, and the history and discourses 
of our Saviour in the gospels, will be found ex- 
ceedingly profitable. I would advise you, when 
you go to your private room or closet for prayer, 
to begin by lifting up your heart to God for a mo- 
ment or two, to ask his blessing. Then take the 
Bible, and turn to some passage of the kind I have 
mentioned. A very few verses will, in most cases, 
be sufficient. Read these with the greatest atten- 
tion and reverence. You need not perplex your- 
self with difficulties, nor dwell even upon those 
questions which might be very proper at another 
time. But endeavour to have your heart affected 
with the excellency of divine things. After this it 
will be proper for you to engage in your solemn 
prayers. And I hope, my dear children, that by 
the grace of God, you will be enabled to say, that 
these are the happiest hours of your whole life* 
Let us now go on to the next in order. 

Direction XI. 
Keep the Lord Jesus in view in all you read. 
Ernest. But is there not a great deal in the 
Bible which does not relate to Christ ? 

Uncle. The Bible contains many passages which 
do not teach any thing directly concerning Christ 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 221 

But, at the same time, Christ is the great subject 
of the whoie Scriptures. Both Testaments testify 
of him. Thus he said to the Jews, " Search the 
Scriptures," (or as some read it, " Ye do search 
the Scriptures,") " they are they which testify of 
me."* The Old Testament prepared the way for 
the Messiah, the New Testament reveals him. 
The history of the Old Testament is chiefly a his- 
tory of Christ's progenitors. The rites and cere- 
monies of the Jewish worship were filled with 
types or emblems of Christ. The prophecies pre- 
dict his coming and his work; and the New Tes- 
tament is entirely taken up with what relates to 
him. 

The great use of the Bible is to make us ac- 
quainted with the Redeemer. " This is life eter- 
nal ; that they might know Thee, the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."t We 
should therefore seek this knowledge in every part 
of the Scriptures. " To Aim," says the apostle 
Peter, " give all the prophets witness, that through 
his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive 
remission of sins."t 

I will here read you a short extract from the 
works of the excellent Leighton: "Let this also 
commend the Scriptures much to our diligence and 

• John v. 39. f John xvii. 3 * Acts x. 43. 

19* 



£?22 AN INTRODUCTION 

affection, that their great theme is our Redeemer, 
and salvation wrought by him ; that they contain 
the display of his excellencies, and are the lively 
picture of his matchless beauty. Were we more 
engaged in reading them, we should daily see 
more of him in them, and so of necessity love him 
more." 

The great question for every one of us is, Wliat 
must I do to be saved? The Bible answers this 
question by showing us the Lord Jesus Christ, as 
our divine Redeemer. Therefore keep him always 
in view while you read. 

Ernest. Every word you say, my dear uncle, 
makes me feel condemned for having paid so little 
attention to this best of books. 

Uncle. The feeling is natural and reasonable ; 
and the last direction which I shall give you this 
evening is this : 

Direction XII. 
Read the Bible more than any thing else* 
Hilary. But how can we do this, when we have 
so many hundred other books to read ? 

Uncle. This is the book of books — the best oi 
all — worth all the rest put together. If all othei 
books were destroyed, you might still be led to 
eternal salvation by this alone. 

Other books are to be read at proper times, and 



TO THE SCRIPTURES 223 

occasionally ; but the Bible is to be read every day 
There are many thousands of books in the world 
and we have so many within our reach, that we are 
often tempted to neglect the Scriptures. But all 
the learning of all the wise men that ever lived is 
not to be compared with the wisdom of this book. 
If the Bible were more constantly read, the earth 
would be filled with better Christians. 

Hilary, Is there no danger of becoming weary 
of reading so much in one book ? 

Uncle. Those who read the Bible most, love it 
best. They find something new in it at every 
fresh perusal. They prefer it to all other books, 
and can say with David, M how I love thy law! 
It is my meditation all the day." 

Let me here relate an anecdote of the celebrated 
Dr. Buchanan. Shortly before his death this good 
man was talking to some of his friends about the 
great pains he had taken to have the Syriac New 
Testament correctly printed. He mentioned that 
he read over every page Jive times, before it 
went to the press. He said, he had expected 
beforehand that this would have been tiresome, 
but that every fresh perusal of the sacred page 
seemed to unveil new beauties. Here he stop 
ped, and burst into tears. " Do not be alarmed," 
said he, as soon as he had recovered himself, " 1 
could not suppress the emotion I feJt as I recollected 



224 AN INTRODUCTION 

the delight it pleased God to afford me in the reaa 
ing of his word." 

I have also read a pleasing account of a conver 
sation between Count Oxenstiern, Chancellor of 
Sweden, and Whitlock, an English ambassador. 
The count, who was one of the greatest men of his 
age, was at this time living in retirement. " I have 
seen much," said he, " and enjoyed much of this 
world, but I never knew how to live till now. I 
thank my good God, who has given me time to 
know him, and also myself. All the comfort I 
have, and which is more than the whole world can 
give, is the knowledge of God's love in my heart, 
and the reading of this blessed book;" and here he 
laid his hand on the Bible. 

Hilary. I remember, uncle, that you told us in 
the first conversation after we came, that the Bible 
was the most interesting book in the world. 

Uncle. Yes ; and this has been the opinion of 
the greatest men. Sir William Jones, who was 
acquainted with many languages, and was one of 
the most learned and accomplished scholars who 
ever lived, wrote the following words in the blank 
leaf of his Bible : 

" I have regularly and attentively perused these 
Holy Scriptures, and am of opinion, that this vo- 
lume, independently of its divine origin, contains 
more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, more 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 225 

pure morality more important history, and liner 
strains of poetry and eloquence, than can be col- 
lected from all other books, in whatever age or 
language they may have been written." Let me, 
therefore, exhort you, my dear nephews, to devote 
yourselves to the study of the Scriptures. But the 
evening is passing away, and I will reserve wnat I 
have still to say, until to-morrow and the day after. 



S2P AN INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Rules for the reading of Scripture, continued : — The Bible must 
be read daily — In regular course — Neglecting no part — In 
suitable portions — Without prejudice — Comparing scripttue 
with scripture — With judicious use of commentaries, and abun- 
dant perusal of the text itself — The Bible our study for life. 

As the time for their departure drew nigh, the 
boys became more and more anxious to receive all 
the instructions which their uncle had to communi- 
cate. At an early hour, the next evening, they 
reminded him that he had promised to continue his 
directions for reading the Scriptures ; and their 
good uncle, with a benignant countenance, began 
as follows. 

Uncle. I have already given you twelve direc- 
tions ; I shall now proceed to give you about as 
many more. 

Direction XIII. 
Read the Bible daily. 

There was a celebrated Greek painter, who ac- 
complished such a number of works as surprised 
his friends, until he told them that his motto was, 
No day ivithout a line. A little every day will 
effect a great deal in the course of a year. It is 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 227 

constant dropping which wears away the rocks 
Hence it is far more important to read a portion 
every day, even though it be only a few verses, 
than to read many chapters at once, but at irregular 
intervals. The Holy Scriptures are the nourish- 
ment of our souls, just as food is of our bodies; 
and we should be as unwilling to omit our daily 
portion of the word of God, as to miss one of our 
ordinary meals. 

Ernest. Some people read the Bible only on 
Sundays. 

Uncle. The Lord's-day is a very suitable time 
for reading the Scriptures ; indeed, this should be 
one our chief employments on that day. But we 
need the light of God's truth every day that we 
live. The psalmist calls the Scriptures the man 
of his counsel ; that is, his adviser. We should 
seek the advice and counsel of God day by day. 
It is a good thing to keep our minds constantly 
under the influence of divine truth. This has been 
the practice of good men, even of those who have 
had many laborious occupations to distract their 
attention. I suppose you have both read Miss 
Hannah More's beautiful tract, called " The Shep- 
herd of Salisbury Plain." 

Hilary. Yes, sir ; we have read it a number of 
times ; and we have also read in other books abou 
'.his shepherd. 



228 AN INTRODUCTION 

Ernest. It is all a true story, and his real name 
was David Saunders. 

Uncle. Very well. Now what I was about to 
tell you is this. David Saunders once said to Dr. 
Stonehouse : — "Blessed be God! through his 
mercy I learned to read when I was a boy. 1 
believe there is no day, for the last thirty years, 
that I have not peeped at my Bible. If we can't 
find time to read a chapter, I defy any man to say 
he can't find time to read a verse; and a single 
verse, well followed and put in practice every day, 
would make no bad figure at the year's end ; three 
hundred and sixty-five texts, without the loss of a 
moment's time, would make a pretty stock, a little 
golden treasury, as one may say, from new-year's 
day to new-year's day ; and if children were 
brought up to it, they would come to look for their 
text as naturally as they do for their breakfast. I 
can say the greatest part of my Bible by heart. I 
have led but a lonely life, and have often had but 
little to eat ; but my Bible has been meat, drink, 
and company to me ; and when want and trouble 
have come upon me, I don't know what I should 
have done indeed, if I had not had the promises of 
this book for my stay and support." 

Ernest. That is a beautiful anecdote ; it is one 
of the things which I will try to remember. 

Uncle. I have said enough on this head. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 229 

Direction XIV. 
Read in regular course. 

Ernest Do you mean that we should begin at 
Genesis and read through to Revelation ? 

Uncle, I do ; and when you have gone through 
once, begin again, and re-peruse the whole, and so 
continue during the remainder of your life. 

Hilary, But should we never read in any other 
place ? 

Uncle. I do not mean that. I have already ad- 
vised you to make selections for your devotional 
leading. Likewise, at other times, you may turn 
over the pages of your Bible, and pick out such 
places as suit your present state of mind. But 
still, there should be some hour of the day in 
which you should be regularly and systematically 
going through the whole revelation of God. 

Ernest. But according to this, we might be for 
many months reading the Old Testament, without 
looking at the New ; or reading the New Testament 
without looking at the Old. 

Uncle. I have thought of this ; and to prevent 
this evil, I recommend to you a method which I 
have pursued myself; which is, to read daily in 
both Testaments ; a portion of one in the morning, 
and a portion of the other in the evening. Or, 
20 



230 AN INTRODUCTION 

what is the same thing, read each Testament sepa- 
rately, over and over, in course. 

Hilary. What advantage is there in this regular 
method ? 

Uncle. It has many advantages. In this way 
you always complete one book before you begin 
another. Thus you are able to observe the con- 
nexion of the parts. You also get every part of 
the instruction just in its proper place. And you 
are moreover secured against the evil of omitting 
any portion. But this is so important, that you 
may write it down by itself. 

Direction XV. 
Neglect no part of Scripture. 

Those who read the Bible at random can scarcely 
avoid this. Even after several years' study, there 
will be passages to which they have paid no special 
attention. 

Ernest. But are not some parts of Scripture 
more important than others ? 

Uncle. Certainly. But unless we read every 
part, we shall not be likely to find out which these 
important parts are. Having once discovered this, 
we may read them over and over, at other times, 
as often as we choose. But " all Scripture is 
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 231 

doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction 
in righteousness."* 

We do not always know while we are reading, 
what portions will prove most useful to us. I have 
often found myself warned, instructed, and com- 
forted, by the recollection of texts which appeared 
to me very unimportant while I was perusing them- 
Therefore we ought to neglect no portion of Scrip- 
ture. 

Hilary. I have always read most in the New 
Testament. 

Uncle. This is usually the case. Many persons 
go through life altogether ignorant of the delightful 
histories and glorious prophecies of the Old Testa- 
ment. You will be careful to avoid this error, and 
the observance of the preceding rule will be of the 
greatest advantage to you. 

Direction XVI. 
Let your daily portion be op proper 
length ; neither too much nor too little 

Ernest. How much is a proper quantity ? 

Uncle. That is a question which every one must 
answer for himself. Some men have more leisure 
than others ; some grow weary of their book much 
sooner than others. The learned Dr. Gouge used 

* 2 Tim. hi. 16. 



232 AN INTRODUCTION 

to read fifteen chapters daily ; and I suppose the 
good shepherd of Salisbury plain, on his busy 
days, read only as many verses. 

Ernest. But is it not best to have a fixed por- 
tion for every day ? 

Uncle. I think it is. On the Lord's-day one 
can, of course, read more than on other days, 
There are many good methods of dividing the 
Scriptures so as to read them through once every 
year. I have found the following division very 
convenient. 

Five chapters every Sunday, and three chap- 
ters on each of the other days, will take yov 
through the Bible in a year. 

The next rule which I have to give you will be 
of more value to you when you are older ; but you 
may write it down, and learn the meaning of it. 1\ 
is this : 

Direction XVII. 

Read for yourself; impartially, and with- 
out PREJUDICE. 

That is, do not cling to your preconceived 
opinions, when the Bible is against them. 

Ernest. What are preconceived opinions ? 

Uncle. When any one makes up his mind upon 
any point, before he examines what the Bible 
teaches, this opinion of his is a preconceived 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 233 

opinion ; and very often it is altogether wrong. 
For example, I have a neighbour who is a Univer- 
salist ; that is, he does not believe in any future 
punishment. He formed this opinion without look- 
ing at the Scripture, and now he is so full of pre- 
judice that he cannot read with impartiality. He 
is unable to see that the whole Bible is against 
him. The right way is to get all our doctrines 
from the Scriptures. We never can be secure in 
believing any thing unless we find it there revealed 

Ernest, Ought we not to believe every thing 
which is preached by ministers of the gospel ? 

Uncle. Not at all ; we are to believe them just 
so far as they agree with the word of God. At the 
same time, we should always listen to their words 
with an humble, teachable mind. It is very danger- 
ous to indulge a spirit of criticism, contradiction, 
and perpetual doubt. Yet you remember what is 
said of those Bereans who heard the preaching of 
Saul and Silas: " These were more noble than 
those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word 
with al. readiness of mind, and searched the Scrip- 
tures daily, whether these things were so."* 

Hilary. I have heard that the Catholics are not 
allowed to do this. 

Uncle. They are not. This is one grand differ 

* Acts xvii. 11. 
20* 



234 AN INTRODUCTION 

ence between Protestants and Papists. The Pro- 
testant claims the right of judging for himself; the 
Papist is bound to believe just what the church says. 

Direction XVIII. 
In every passage, try to have before your 
mind the whole scene, and all the circum- 
STANCES. 

Ernest. Please to make this rule plainer. 

Uncle. In plainer language : whenever you read 
any account in the Scriptures, try to feel as if you 
were there. Bring up before your mind all the 
circumstances. Consider who is the writer or 
speaker; observe to whom the words were ad- 
dressed. If it is an historical transaction, learn all 
you can about the time, the place, the surrounding 
objects, and the persons present. In order to do 
this, you will find it useful to be familiar with bib- 
lical geography, manners, and customs. 

Hilary. Perhaps, sir, you can make this more 
clear by an example. 

Uncle. I will endeavour to do so. In the nine* 
teenth and twentieth chapters of Exodus, we have 
a sublime description of the giving of the law. 
But a mere hasty perusal of these chapters will not 
make a sufficient impression on your minds. You 
must try to bring it up before your view, as if you 
had Lctually beheld it. Consider the time: it was 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 235 

nearly fifteen hundred years before Christ. Con- 
sider the place: it was Mount Sinai in Aiabia 
And here you must try to find out every thing abou 
this mountain and desert, by means of maps, plates, 
and descriptions. Consider the persons : here 
were more than a million of Israelites, encamped 
around this mountain. Then try to get a distinct 
idea of the scene. The vast multitudes are trem- 
bling with awful expectation. The mountain is 
wrapt in clouds and fire ; there are thunders and 
lightnings, and the sound of a dreadful mysterious 
trumpet. The smoke of Sinai ascends, as if it 
were a mighty furnace. Moses and Aaron ap- 
proach, and hear the voice of Jehovah. Now, if 
you can have all these circumstances before your 
mind, the effect will be great and lasting. 

So also, in every other part of the Bible, you 
must, as far as possible, place yourself in the very 
midst of the scene which is represented. 

Hilary, This rule is very new to me ; but I per- 
ceive that it will assist us very much in understand- 
ing what we read. 

Direction XIX. 
Compare passage with passage. 

Ernest* I think, sir, you have once before ad- 
vised us to do this, when you were speaking o\ the 
aiarginal references. 

Uncle I did so. And therefore I need only 



23fi AN INTRODUCTION 

now remind you of what I then said, particularly 
of the remarks of Bishop Horsley, which I read to 
you.* Let me, however, add to these the observa- 
tions of the pious Dr. Scott. This learned man 
made a very laborious collection of marginal refer* 
ences, amounting in number to many thousands. 
He was therefore well qualified to judge what 
would be the effects of this method of studying 
Scripture. Now hear what he says : " Though I 
bad for many years previously studied the Scrip- 
tures as my one grand business, I c^n truly aver 
that the insight which I have thus obtained into 
many parts, which before I had not so carefully 
noted, is so great, as abundantly to repay my la- 
bour, and to convince me, that, along with other 
means, consulting well-selected marginal references 
forms one of the best helps for fixing the word of 
God in the memory, leading the mind to a just in- 
terpretation of it, and in many cases rendering it 
most afTecting to the heart.-^-To those who desire 
to study the Scriptures accurately and deeply, 1 
would very earnestly recommend to set apart an 
hour, or half an hour, every day, when it can be 
done ; and regularly to go through the Scriptures, 
carefully consulting all the references."! 

* Bee pp. 155, 156. 

f The language of the quotation has been somewhat sim 
piified. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 237 

Direction XX. 

Pay special attention to the connexion 
anp sccpe of every passage. 

By the connexion, I mean what goes before and 
after the passage. By the scope, I mean the inten- 
tion of the writer, or what he is aiming to prove or 
teach. In other words, always bear in mind what 
the sacred penman is writing about. 

Many readers altogether neglect the connexion 
of passages. They read perhaps a single chapter 
at a time, without looking back to see what the 
preceding chapter was about, or looking forward to 
see what comes next. Now it is impossible to get 
the full meaning of any book, by reading it in this 
way. The direction I have just given is particu- 
larly important in several of the epistles ; where 
there is a great deal of reasoning or argument. 

Again, we must always consider the scope of a 
passage ; that is, what it is intended to teach ; or 
we shall fall into very great mistakes. Thus many 
of our Lord's beautiful parables have been misun- 
derstood and grossly perverted. 

Direction XXI. 
Make a judicious use of commentaries. 
Ernest. I have heard Mr. Derby say that he 
never needs any commentary. 



238 alN introduction 

Uncle. Mr. Derby must be a very wise n**a 
indeed. For my part, I find some need of a good 
commentary almost every day. 

Hilary. But some of the commentaries are so 
very large, and in so many great volumes, that I 
should think it would take half a lifetime to read 
them through. 

Uncle. I would by no means advise you to read 
a large commentary through. For this reason, I 
have recommended a judicious use of these helps. 
By reading too much of a commentary, we shall be 
led to read too little of the text. The use of a 
commentary is to explain to us that which it 
is difficult to understand. Where a passage is 
perfectly plain, or has been already explained to 
us, it is often a loss of time to read any explanation 
of it. But there are many real difficulties in the 
Bible, and here we need the help of those wise and 
good men who have spent their lives in the study 
of the Scriptures. 

Hilary. What commentary would you recom- 
mend to us ? 

Uncle. There are so many that are excellent, 
that I shall not undertake to choose for you. On 
this point, you had better take the advice of your 
minister. Always bear in mind, however, that the 
text, rather than any explanation of it, should be 
your great study. For this reason, I add : 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 239 

Direction XXII. 
Read the text abundantly. 

By the text, I here mean the very words of 
the Scripture. This should be our great study. 
Some persons read some five or six verses of the 
text, and then spend an hour or more in reading 
notes upon it. Just the reverse of this seems to 
me to be the proper method. I have always ob- 
served that those who read most largely in the text 
of Scripture, are most acquainted with its meaning. 
By continually reading over and over the same 
passages, and comparing one place with another, 
they have their greatest difficulties cleared up. 
One verse throws light upon another ; and what is 
taught obscurely in one place, is expressed plainly 
and fully in another. Indeed, no man can well 
fail to be learned in the Scriptures, who goes on 
from day to day, reading large portions, in regular 
order, and with devout attention. 

Hilary. Might there not be danger of one's run- 
ning on too fast ? 

Uncle. Certainly. You should have your set 
times, for not only reading, but studying the Scrip- 
tures. At these times, let no difficulty pass with- 
out an attempt to have it explained. But you 
should often, at other times, take up the Bible, for 
the express purpose of rapid and cursory reading ; 



240 AN INTRODUCTION 

just as you would peruse any other very interest- 
ing volume. At such times, you may read a num- 
ber of chapters at one sitting. I have found th& 
greatest profit and pleasure in thus going over a 
whole book or epistle in the course of one day. 
This brings the whole subject before the mind at 
one view ; and if you will persevere in sometimes 
reading the same book over and over a number cf . 
times before you leave it, you will find it delightful 
and more clear at each repetition. 

Ernest. Dear uncle, you talk as if we had a 
great deal of time upon our hands ; and as if we 
had nothing else to do but to read the Bible. 

Uncle. I will reply to you by another rule : 

Direction XXIII. 

Remember that this book is to be the 
study of your whole life. 

This must be your one book, more loved 
and more studied than all others. If I were 
to take down one of my great folio volumes, and 
say, ' Boys, you must take this book : and read it 
over twenty times ;' you might very properly 
answer : ' Life is too short, for we have many 
other books to read.' But when I say this of the 
Bible, there is no propriety in smh a reply. For 
the Bible is given to us to be oir instructer and 
counsellor as long as we live. Be patient and per- 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 241 

severing, and consider that tbis is a study which 
you are never to leave off, as long as you live. 
Although I nave advised you to a course of scrip- 
tural study, which may seem to require a great deal 
of time, you are not to suppose that the work is to 
be accomplished in a year, or even ten years, and 
then laid aside, as you lay aside your other studies. 
No ; you will never see the day, in this world, in 
which you can say that you have now done with 
the Bible. 

Hilary. And did those good men, whom you 
have spoken about, study the Bible in this way, as 
long as they lived ? 

Uncle. Yes ; and some of them even on their 
death-beds. Let me read you an account of the 
Venerable Bede, which is contained in this little 
volume.*' 

Ernest. Who was the person of whom you are 
about to read ? 

Uncle. His name was Beda, or Bede, and he 
was an eminent servant of Christ, who lived in 
England more than a thousand years ago. He was 
called Venerable Bede, from the great dignity and 
holiness of his character. He translated the Bible 
into the Anglo-Saxon tongue, which was then the 
language of our forefathers. 

* Anecdotes, published by the London Religious Tract So- 
iety. 

21 



242 AN INTRODUCTION 

One of his pupils gives the following narrative 
of his last hours : " Many nights he passed without 
sleep, yet rejoicing and giving thanks, unless when 
a little slumber intervened. When he awoke, he 
resumed his accustomed devotions, and, with ex- 
panded hands, never ceased returning thanks to 
God. In such solemn joy, we passed fifty days, 
but during these days, besides the daily lectures 
which he gave, he endeavoured to compose two 
works, one of which was a translation of St. John's 
gospel into English. It had been observed of him, 
that he never knew what it was to do nothing ; and 
after his breathing became still shorter, he dictated 
cheerfully, and sometimes said, ' Make haste, I 
know not how long I shall hold out ; my Maker 
may take me away very soon.' On one occasion, 
a pupil said to him, ' Most dear master, there is 
yet one chapter wanting ; do you think it trouble- 
some to be asked any more questions V He an- 
swered, ' It is no trouble ; take your pen, and write 
fast.' He continued to converse cheerfully, and 
while his friends wept as he told them they would 
see him no more, they rejoiced to hear him say, 
4 It is now time for me to return to Him who made 
me. The time of my dissolution draws near. I 
desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Yes, 
my soul desires to see Christ, my king, in his 
beauty.' The pupil, before mentioned, said to 






TO THE SCRIPTURES. 243 

him, i Dear master, one sentence is still wanting.' 
He replied, ' Write quickly V The young man 
soon added, ' It is finished V He answered, ' Thou 
hast well said — all is finished ! Hold my heaa in 
thy hands ; I shall delight to sit at the opposite 
side of the room, on the holy spot at which I have 
been accustomed to pray, and where, whilst sitting, 
I can call upon my Father.' Being placed on th£ 
floor of his little room, he sang, ' Glory be to the 
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ;' 
and expired as he uttered the last words." So 
that this excellent man may be said to have died 
while engaged in the study of the Holy Scriptures. 
I shall now leave you for the evening ; and to- 
morrow we will close our conversations with a few 
additional rules. 



244 AN INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Rules for the reading of Scripture, continued: — The Bible mast 
be read with ardent love — Charging memory with its instruc- 
tions — The importance of self-examination, meditation, and 

•conversation on what has been read— Passages read should 
be turned into prayer — This reading is for the salvation of tha 
soul — Recapitulation of rules — Conclusion. 

The last day of the visit to Oakdale had now 
come, and when Ernest and Hilary entered the old 
gentleman's study in the evening there was a sad- 
ness in their countenances. Their aged friend had 
been very kind to them, and had taught them many 
useful things ; so that they were grieved at the 
thought of leaving him. He perceived this, and 
began his conversation with them in the following 
words. 

Uncle. My dear nephews, you are to leave my 
house to-morrow, and perhaps we may never meet 
again in this world. You see I am an old man, 
and it would not be very strange if I should be 
called out of this world before you ever revisit this 
part of the country. I therefore try to give you 
the best ii structions which I can think of; and I 
nope they may be of use to you when I am dead 
and gone. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 245 

Ernest. It makes us sorry, dear uncle, to hear 
you talk so. But I am sure both Hilary and I 
will endeavour to remember all your kind instruc- 
tions. 

Uncle. Let me then proceed with the rules. 

Direction XXIV. 

Cherish ardent love for the Scriptures. 

I am persuaded that if I should write you any 
book of advice, you would feel great regard for it, 
out of love for me. But the Scriptures are given 
you by your heavenly Father ; how much more 
should you honour and love them ! Do you re- 
member what David says about this ? 

Ernest. " how I love thy law ! It is my me- 
ditation all the day."* 

Hilary. He also says, " I love thy command- 
ments above gold ; yea, above fine gold."t 

Uncle. Very well repeated. He further says, 
" How sweet are thy words unto my taste ! yea, 
sweeter than honey to my mouth. "J This is the 
feeling of every pious soul : and the further we go 
in the knowledge of the Scriptures, the more shall 
we love them. Never allow yourselves to fall into 
the habit of reading them as a task but open the 

* Ps. cxix. 97. f Ps. cxix. 127. 

* Ps. cxix. 103. 

21* 



246 AN INTRODUCTION 

volume with constant delight. Cultivate this 
warmth of affection, and rebuke your own hearts 
when you find yourselves destitute of it. 

I have read of a certain Mr. Harris. & tradesman 
of London, whose love for the Scripture was such, 
that when his eyesight became dim, he caused the 
book of Psalms, and almost all the New Testament, 
to be written with white ink on black paper, in let- 
ters an inch long ; that he might still read the best 
of books in his old age. 

Hilary, I have heard of persons who copied the 
Bible with their own hands. 

Uncle. Yes, the emperor Theodosius is said to 
have done so with the New Testament. The re- 
former, Zuinglius, transcribed the Epistles of Paul, 
and committed them to memory. In the early pe- 
riod of the Reformation, when Bibles were very 
scarce, and when it was dangerous to possess them, 
there were many instances of this strong attach- 
ment. The poor persecuted Christians used to 
meet, for the reading of the Scriptures, in garrets 
and lofts, or on board vessels. In the reign of the 
popish king James II., when many good people 
feared the re-establishment of the Romish power, 
there was a pious man who copied out the whole 
Bible in short hand, for his own use, lest the Scrip- 
tures should be suppressed. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 247 

Direction XXV. 
Charge your memory with all that you 

READ. 

I suppose you need scarcely be told the reason 
for this direction. 

Hilary, If we do not remember what we read, 
we might as well not read at all ; it can do us no 
good. 

Uncle, Very true ; and in order to remember, 
we must charge our memory, as if we told me- 
mory to keep it safe. Do you always read in this 
way ? 

Ernest. Sometimes, I confess, what I read 
seems to slip out of my mind. 

Uncle. This is, indeed, too commonly the case. 
With some people, all that they read slips out of 
their mind. When they have perused a certain 
portion, they shut the book, and never think of it 
again for that day. Ask them in the evening what 
they were reading about in the morning, and they 
cannot tell. This is sufficiently plain without any 
further explanation. 

Ernest, I suppose you do not mean that we 
should try to get every verse 'by heart,' so as to 
be able to repeat it without book. 

Uncle, Certainly not ; but here is another rule, 
relating to this very point. 



248 AN INTRODUCTION 

Direction XXVI. 

Commit to memory some portion of Scrip 
ture every day. 

There is great advantage in this practice. If 
you have much of the Bible in your memory, you 
will be able to think of these precious words when 
you cannot have your book before you. This will 
be very profitable, for it may serve to direct and 
comfort you when you are travelling, or sick, or 
during the hours of night. It will also help you to 
understand those passages which you read. 

Hilary, How much ought we to get each day ? 

Uncle. You may begin with a single verse. 
After a few weeks, you will find it so much easier, 
that you will find no more difficulty in learning ten 
or twelve verses, than you had at first in learning 
one. The memory is greatly strengthened by 
daily practice ; and this is another advantage which 
your minds will receive from what I am recom- 
mending. By degrees you will have many chap- 
ters, and even whole books of Scripture treasured 
up in your memory. 

Ernest. Are there any persons who know whole 
books by memory ? 

Uncle. There have been many such, as I shall 
show you by several examples. The Reverend 
Doctor Marry at began this practice in his early 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 249 

youth, and pursued it so far, that he is said to have 
committed to memory the books .of Job, Psalms, 
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, all the lesser Pro- 
phets, and all the Epistles. 

Hilary. I should think he would forget what he 
had learned. 

Uncle. In order to prevent this, he used to re- 
peat the whole, by memory, once every year. 
Here is another instance. Theodore Beza, a cele- 
brated reformer, lived to such an age that he could 
not recollect things which he had heard a few 
minutes before. Yet at this very time, it is said 
that he was able to repeat the Epistles of Paul, 
which he had committed to memory when he was 
young. 

Ernest. This really astonishes me ; I did not 
know that such a thing was possible. 

Uncle. Let it encourage you to make the attempt. 
Viscount Carteret, who was lord-lieutenant of Ire- 
land, in 1724, could repeat from memory the whole 
of the New Testament. The same thing is said 
of Pierpont Edwards, son of President Edwards. 
But this is not all. The late Rev. Thomas Threl- 
keld, of Lancashire, in England, used to be caned 
a living concordance. If any three words were 
mentioned, (unless they were such as occur m 
many passages,) he could immediately, without 
hesitation, assign the chapter and verse where they 



250 AN INTRODLCTION 

might oe found ; or, if the chapter and verse weie 
mentioned, he could repeat the words. I have 
neard the same thing related of the Rev. John 
Brown, of Haddington. 

Ernest. Were these men of great genius and 
learning ? 

Uncle. Most of them were so. But the same 
thing has been true of many unlearned and humble 
persons. One of the most remarkable instances of 
this was an old man of Stirling, in Scotland, who 
went by the name of Blind Alick. He had been 
blind from his childhood. He was sent to a com- 
mon school to keep him out of mischief, and here 
he began to commit to memory what he heard the 
other scholars read. In other w r ays and places 
he continued to seek the knowledge of the Scrip- 
tures ; and such was the success of this blind beg- 
gar, that he came at last to know the whole of the 
Bible, both Old and New Testaments, by heart. 

His case excited the interest of many persons, 
and among others, of the late celebrated Professor 
Dugald Stewart. Alick was often examined, and 
the result was always satisfactory. You might 
repeat any passage of the Scripture, and he would 
tell you chapter and verse ; or you might tell him 
the chapter and verse, and he would repeat to you 
the passage, word for word. A gentleman, to 
puzzle him, read a verse of the Bible, with a sligh* 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 251 

alteration. Alick hesitated a moment, and then 
told him where it was to be found, but said it had 
not been correctly given ; he then repeated it as it 
stood in the book. The gentleman then asked him 
for the ninetieth verse of the seventh chapter of 
Numbers. Alick was again puzzled for a moment, 
but quickly replied, " You are fooling me, sirs ! 
there is no such verse — that chapter has only 
eighty-nine verses." 

Ernest. How long ago did this happen ? 

Uncle. Blind Alick was still living in 1833, and 
I have never heard of his death. In relating to 
you these incidents, I do not suppose that either 
you or I could ever make such wonderful acquisi- 
tions. But at the same time, we should be encou- 
raged to improve the talent which we actually pos- 
sess. All of us might commit more of the Scriptures 
to memory than we do. And, as T have already 
said, even those parts which we do not commit to 
memory should be read with such care, that we 
may be able afterwards to recall them to our 
minds. 

Direction XXVII. 

Examine yourself on what you have read. 

When you have read any chapter or chapters, 

and are about to close the book, it would be wel 

to pause and ask yourself such questions as these 



252 AN INTRODUCTION 

What have I now been reading about ? What per* 
sons have been mentioned ? What doctrines have 
I learned from this passage ? What precepts are 
here given, or what duty enforced ? What example 
is here set before me? What is there in these 
verses which it may be important for me to recol 
lect during the day ? 

Such questions will enable you to discover whe- 
ther you have been attentive and faithful. If you 
find that you have passed over any thing negli- 
gently, you may return to the book, and make up 
the deficiency. In every case, this self-examina- 
tion will fix in your memory what you have been 
reading. When you again take up the Bible, at 
your next stated hour for scriptural study, it will 
be proper io ask yourself similar questions about 
the passage last read. Thus you will always be 
sure to keep up the connexion of the parts. 

Ernest. Might not two friends examine one 
another in this way ? 

Uncle. Yes ; and where two read together, the 
exercise would be truly profitable. But even when 
pursued in the solitary manner which 1 have repre- 
sented, it leads to great good. I find it a good 
method, when I have finished any book of Scrip- 
ture, to recall to mind, as far as possible, all its 
contents. Also at night, I have often been pro- 
fited by going over in my mind, as I have lain in 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 253 

bed, the Scripture passages which I had read dur- 
ing the day. This brings me to another important 
point. 

Direction XXVIII. 

Make what you r^ad the subject of medi- 
tation. 

Here that sweet text of David may again be 
applied : " O how I love thy law ! It is my medi- 
tation all the cte/."* No doubt this holy man 
turned the words of revelation in his thoughts, by 
day and by night. So should we do likewise. 
Thus God said to the Israelites : " These words, 
which I command thee this day, shall be in thy 
heart. "t There is no better proof of our loving 
the word of God, than our having it constantly in 
our thoughts ; and there is no happier method of 
keeping every thing evil out of our minds. 

Dr. Doddridge, and other excellent writers, have 
recommended it as a useful practice, to select some 
text every morning, to be our special subject of 
meditation during the day. If we cannot do more, 
we can repeat to ourselves these sacred words, and 
thus exclude the vain imaginations which often vex 
us. This plan has been adopted by many of the 
best men I have ever known. It is but a few days 

* Ps. cxix. 97. f Deut. vi. 6. 

22 



254 AN INTRODUCTION 

since I was reading the life of a very pious German 
bookseller, named Henry Julius Elers, who was 
an intimate friend and helper of the celebrated 
Francke.* The following statement is made con- 
cerning him. " Elers' preparation for every day 
consisted of a serious meditation on some important 
Scripture text, which he chose after his morning 
prayer. He received great benefit from this practice, 
and earnestly recommended it to others. He used 
to say, ' Such a text, deeply impressed on the heart, 
employs me all the day. I use it as a staff for my 
support. It secures me from distraction of mind 
during my business ; and if I am called upon to in- 
struct any one, I am never at a loss for a text.' He 
used to write down these daily texts in his memo- 
randum book, and the last which he ever inserted 
in it was, ' Let your loins be girt about, and your 
lamps burning,' &c."t 

Hilary. I think this is an excellent way. We 
might write down a text every day in a nice little 
book, and this would be worth preserving. And 
then we might commit these same texts to me- 
mory. 

Uncle. Excellent, indeed ! I hope you will both 

* See Life of Francke, published by the American Sunday- 
school Union. 

j- Franken's Stiftungen, vol. ii. p. 466. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 255 

put it in practice ; as well as the other hints I have 
been giving you in our repeated conversations. 

Ernest. Dear uncle, we have never heard so 
much conversation on these subjects before. What 
can be the reason that we scarcely ever hear people 
talking about the Bible I 

Uncle. It must arise from a want of interest in 
this blessed book, for " out of the abundance of the 
heart the mouth speaketh." But I have a special 
rule for this : 

Direction XXIX. 
Frequently converse about what you have 
3een reading. 

Ernest. We often do so about other books 
which we read ; I frequently hear ladies and gen- 
tlemen talk an hour at a time about the last novel. 

Uncle. That is because they love what they 
read. We should speak of the delightful truths of 
God's word. It will be natural to do so, if we 
have them much in our minds. But too often we 
read the Scriptures in a formal way, like a task, 
and seem glad to forget them when the book is 
closed. Observe that there is a special command 
in Scripture to do this very thing. " These words, 
which I command thee this day, shall be in thy 
heart. And thou shall teach them diligently unto 
thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sit- 



256 AN INTRODUCTION 

test in thy house, and when thou walkest by the 
way, and when thou liest down, and when thou 
risest up."* 

Hilary. But I should scarcely know how to 
begin to talk about the Bible. 

Uncle. Just as you would about any other se- 
rious book in which you are interested. Not that 
you are to make set speeches, or speak beyond 
your knowledge. This would be vain and affected. 
But you may ask one another questions, or con- 
verse about Scripture characters ; and as your 
knowledge increases, you will find a multitude of 
points relating to Scripture, upon which you may 
talk with your friends, to your great profit. 

Direction XXX. 
Turn what you read into prayer. 

By observing this rule, you will find the Scrip- 
tures a perpetual help to your devotions. You will 
thus be taught, both how to pray, and what to pray 
for as you ought. 

Ernest. Some passages in the Bible seem to me 
to be prayers already. 

Uncle. That is very true ; and in all such cases, 
the words may be profitably used, without altera- 
tion ; provided that you repeat them with the spirit 

* Deut. vi. 6, 7. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 257 

of prayer. Thus most passages in the Psalms of 
David are prayer ; in which I include, not merely 
petition, but adoration, thanksgiving, and confession 
Thus, when David says, " Teach me to do thy 
will, for thou art my God !"* the words are a pe- 
tition, and you should try to feel as David did, and 
earnestly offer the same prayer. Again, when he 
says, "I acknowledge my transgressions, and my 
sin is ever before me ;"t you should endeavour to 
make this confession with real repentance of heart. 

Ernest. But how can this be done in those other 
parts of Scripture which are not in the form of 
prayer ? 

Uncle. It is to such passages that the direction 
more particularly applies. These you must turn 
into prayer. For instance, if you read of a truly 
pious man, you may lift up your heart silently to 
God, in supplication for grace to enable you to fol- 
low the example. When you read a command- 
ment, you may pray thus : " Lord, have mercy 
upon me, and incline my heart to keep this law." 
When you read a promise, you may pray that it 
may be fulfilled in yourself; thus, when God says, 
" My grace is sufficient for thee, "J you should 
pray, "O Lord, let thy grace ever be sufficient for 
me/" This rule agrees with one given by the 

* Ps. cxliii. 10. f Ps. li. 3. +2 Cor. xii. 9. 

22* 



258 AN INTRODUCTION 

Rev. Thomas Hartwell Home, in his celebrated 
Introduction to the Study of Scripture : he says, 
" The words of the passage selected for our private 
reading, after its import has been ascertained, may 
beneficially be summed up, or comprised in very 
brief prayers or ejaculations." 

Hilary. What is the meaning of ejaculations ? 

Uncle. It is derived from a Latin word which 
means to throw a dart. Ejaculations are short 
prayers, offered during other employments, and, as 
it were, darted forth towards heaven. This direc- 
tion applies most to your private reading for devo- 
tional purposes. 

And now I have come to the very last of my 
rules. And I beg you, my beloved nephews, to 
bear in your minds what I am now about to say to 
you. 

Direction XXXI. 

In all your reading, remember that it is 
for the salvation of your soul. 

This, my dear boys, is the reason why I have been 
so earnest in exhorting you to the study of the Bible. 
All your other studies and attainments extend their 
influence only to this life ; here is a book which 
makes wise unto salvation. Many of the most 
learned men in the world have had no spiritual 
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ ; and therefore 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 259 

their souls have perished. Dreadful thought ! Foi 
of what advantage can all human learning be to any 
mar, if at last he goes away into everlasting fire ! 
Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, What 
shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole 
world, and lose his own soul?* I am, therefore, 
unspeakably anxious about you, lest you should 
neglect this great salvation. 

Young persons are too apt to forget the import- 
ance of these things. You feel strong and cheerful 
now, and expect a long life of many pleasures. 
But consider, that in a single day, yes, a single 
moment, you may be brought to death. The 
greater part of the human race never reach the age 
of manhood. And even if your lives should be 
spared, how many things may happen to lead you 
astray, and ruin your immortal soul. I perceive 
that these things now affect you ; I am glad that 
they do so. But if you allow these youthful im- 
pressions to wear away, you will probably become 
more hardened and impenitent, the older you grow. 
Hear the word of God, saying to you, " Remember 
now thy Creator, in the days of thy youth. "t 
Many persons are now in perdition, who were in- 
structed in religion, and who felt just as you now 

* Mark viii. 36. f Eccl. xii. 1. 



260 AN INTRODUCTION 

do, when they were young ; but they resisted the 
Holy Spirit, and died in their sins. I pray that 
this may never be the case with you. 

Whenever you open the Scriptures, let this 
thought be in your minds; and pray that God 
would bless all that you read, to the salvation of 
your souls. Do not think, however, that the mere 
knowledge of what is in the Bible will secure this 
blessing. Many have been diligent students of the 
Scriptures, who have never felt its saving effects. 
A man may know the whole Bible by memory, and 
yet be destitute of true religion. Hence it is of the 
utmost importance that you should read with the 
right spirit, and especially that you should have the 
blessing of God upon what you read. 

We are now about to separate. Before many 
days, I must depart from this world ; but I hope, 
when we all stand before our Judge, we shall meet 
with joy, and hear from his lips those gracious 
words : " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 
of the world."* 

That this may be our blessed lot, let us now 
pray to God. 

Here the boys, who were affected even to tears 

* Matt. xxv. 34. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 261 

knelt down, and their uncle offered up an earnest 
and affectionate prayer for them. 

After this he requested them to read over the 
directions he had given them ; which were as fol- 
lows : 

Directions for reading the Bible. 

I. In all your reading of the Bible, bear in mind 
that it is the word of God. 

II. Pray for divine aid and illumination. 

III. Read with patience and self-denial. 

IV. Read with unbroken attention. 

V. Endeavour to learn something new from 
every verse, before you leave it. 

VI. Exercise faith on all that you read. 

VII. Read with a willing and obedient mind. 

VIII. Let all that you read be applied to your- 
selves, in the way of self-examination. 

IX. Seek to have your affections stirred up 
while you read. 

X. Set apart a special time for devotional read- 
ing. 

XI. Keep the Lord Jesus in view, in all that you 
read. 

XII. Read the Bible more than any thing else. 

XIII. Read the Bible daily. 

XIV. Read in regular course. 

XV. Neglect no part of Scripture. 



262 AN INTRODUCTION 

XVI. Let your daily portion be of proper length ; 
neither too much nor too little. 

XVII. Read for yourself ; impartially, and with- 
out prejudice. 

XVIII. In every passage, try to have before 
your mind the whole scene, and all the circum- 
stances. 

XIX. Compare passage with passage. 

XX. Pay special attention to the connexion and 
scope of every passage. 

XXI. Make a judicious use of commentaries. 

XXII. Read the text abundantly. 

XXIII. Remember that this book is to be the 
study of your life. 

XXIV. Cherish ardent love for the Scriptures. 

XXV. Charge your memory with all that you 
read. 

XXVI. Commit to memory some portion of 
Scripture every day. 

XXVII. Examine yourself on what you have 
read. 

XXVIII. Make what you have read the subject 
of meditation. 

XXIX. Frequently converse about what you 
have been reading. 

XXX. Turn what you read into prayer. 

XXXI. In all your reading, remember that it is 
for the salvation of your soul. 



TO THE SCRIPTURES. 263 

Here they parted with their dear old uncle for 
the night ; and the next morning, at an early hour, 
their father's carriage arrived, and they returned to 
New York. 



THE END. 



